Your Seared Lips Say
by NightingaleLost
Summary: Craig wasn't the one who scared him. It was that mask he wore, that horrifying thing that covered the lower half of his face like a demon waiting to spread it's jaws and swallow him whole. Tweek's P.O.V. Rated 'M' to be safe!
1. Before We Met

**Part One:  
_Before We Met_**

It was in the first day of sophomore year that Craig came to school wearing the black mask.

He was always an apathetic one, the loner, that crazy bastard who never really said anything and flipped people off at the slightest thing. He wasn't much of anything.

The mask changed things.

It was one of those black half ones, the kind that covered only your mouth, with the design of a wide, creepy smile, a tooth-baring grin more like, that stretched across his face. School always started early, when the morning was dark, and in that dark, he caused quite a commotion when people first took sight of him. They winced, they flinched at first sight. Then when the day lightened, people started to question and whisper, and one made the mistake of not asking, but insulting it.

The people who happened to hear and watch told the story. Of how Craig stared at him silently, then his eyes changed, crinkling in the way they do when people smiled, and the mask stretched with it, twisting up, curling, becoming his own grin. Then how Craig beat the offender so bad, he ended up in the hospital and Craig was suspended for a week.

And since then, Craig never took it off. It became his dangerous smile, his fangs, and he was a wild figure in the halls, that demonic grin warning you to back away and look down for fear of retribution. He never spoke about what caused the change and his friends abandoned the demented raven, leaving only the tales of what he had been before.

And Craig remained silent, watchful, and dangerous.

* * *

Tweek slunk along the silent, dark, outside halls of the high school, looking for a safe place to hide. He always hated going to school early but he had to; his father went to work super early and he hated the crowded bus more than he hated an empty school.

But the darkness always creeped him out, and the shadows taunted him, whispering words of murderers and psychos waiting to ambush him, and on those days when he's watched something scary, of hordes of zombies running to attack him. Tweek shook and twitched, spilling little drops of coffee from the rim of his cup. He spotted a little dark corner where two buildings met and after looking from afar to see if anyone was in it, darted toward it, planning to spend the rest of his forty minutes waiting for first bell to ring. He sighed in relief, turning to face the open space so he could see if anyone sneaked up on him. Tweek trembled and took a step back, then shrieked when he hit something that moved.

He whirled around, then whimpered in absolute terror as a grinning demon lifted its head from what he had taken to be just deeper shadow, instead a deep midnight blue hoodie. It stood, looming over him and Tweek couldn't breathe, eyes wide as he wheezed, cup shaking erratically in his hands.

Then it turned away, cutting across the grass as it walked off, disappearing around a corner.

It was a couple of petrified minutes later that Tweek realized it had only been Craig Tucker.

* * *

The teacher's voice droned on and Tweek scribbled his notes hastily in his own shorthand, so no lazy cheaters could copy them. Another slurp of coffee and the bell rang, the teacher rattled off their homework and he was off, sticking close to the lockers to avoid the stampede of humans. He entered his final class early and sat down in the back, where he always sat.

Class started after a couple of minutes and the teacher assigned a pop quiz, guaranteed to last the entire period. The entire class groaned and Tweek bit his lip anxiously. Oh God, what if he failed? He hadn't studied at all, what was the test even about?

Just another random quiz day, brought to you by the paranoia of Tweek Tweek.

The blond received his test and started, then quickly realized it was only a very long review quiz, on the chapter they had just finished. He knew all of this. The very thought relaxed him and he started to scribble his answers, finishing before even half of the period was over. Sometimes, having an overactive brain and rapid reading skills came in handy. After he was done he turned it in, and then was faced with the fact that he had nothing to do for the remainder of the period.

Tweek was never an active person. Besides his twitching and shuddering, he didn't like to move much. The more he moved then the more chance that people would look at him and he'd embarrass himself or do something horribly stupid and they would all laugh at him or get angry and beat him up. Tweek had a lot of fears, most of them centering around what people might do to him. What could he do with the remainder or his period that wouldn't cause something horrible?

The more he thought, the more he twitched, and soon he was almost vibrating in his seat, fingers twitching and contorting into fists and back again.

Finally, thankfully, he decided to go to sleep.

He lay his head on his arms, a small worried frown on his face. He was never one to go to sleep easily; he more often stayed awake at nights than he did asleep. He was plagued with insomnia, and the caffeine never helped any. But this was his fourth day without any sleep, maybe he could manage to force a quick nap out of himself. Unless he slept for far too long and missed his next class, or worse, all of the school day. He tried not to shudder. Surely someone would wake him up; it wouldn't come to that, he hoped.

Tweek tried to close his eyes, whimpering silently as he tried to relax enough to go to sleep. He had always hated being so weird. Sleep was one of the most basic functions of a human being, and he couldn't even do that right.

He buried his head farther into his arms, and almost squeaked in joy as he felt his conscious mind slow, grow heavier, and start to leave.

* * *

_He was swimming in a lightless, black ocean, unable to breathe, fighting and fighting to go up and up but he couldn't. There was something holding him back, clutching at him and as he fought a creeping coldness started in his legs, freezing them as it moved up into his body, into his heart and he screamed wordlessly, knowing he was being dragged down and in one last desperate attempt to see, he looked down. And all that stared back at him was a pale-faced midnight blue demon, grinning like death back at him.

* * *

_

"ARGHHHH!" Tweek shot up, smacked his knees into the desk, and fell to the side, landing squirming on the floor. He lay there panting for a moment, then froze, looking up. Faces appeared in his vision, staring at him with expressions of mixed surprise and disgust. Tweek quailed, then shakily stood up, casting scared eyes around the classroom. Both students and teacher alike stared at him, none of them hiding their contempt, and Tweek shamefacedly sank into his seat as someone started laughing.

He tried to ignore the derisive mutters that went around him, all directed at him and his freak nature, his thoughts in turmoil after his nightmare. Now he remembered why he never really wanted to sleep anyway. His nightmares were always there, lurking, standing in hidden shadow until he made the mistake of falling asleep before attacking. His mind was never at rest.

Tweek blew out a shaky breath, turning his thoughts to the vision he'd seen holding him down in that black ocean of horror.

He'd never dreamed of Craig before, and certainly never in such a terrifying context. In all honesty, he'd never actually thought of him at all. Even before he'd started to wear that mask of his last year, Tweek hadn't been much of a friend to him. They hung out in the same group but had never had much reason to talk a lot. And after the mask...well, forget about the possibility. Tweek was more scared of the mask than of Craig himself, but it was just the thought of staring at such a creepy wide grin that kept him away.

Tweek shuddered, tangling shaking hands into much-abused hair. God, he wasn't going to sleep tonight.

Maybe not ever.

The bell rang and Tweek could finally gather up his stuff and slink out of the classroom, ashamed and dearly wishing he never had this class again. But this was a practically normal occurrence; if it wasn't for his nightmare, he would have done something else embarrassing or stupid or awkward. He couldn't avoid it, it was almost a curse and all his nature.

People bustled to and fro and Tweek stayed to the sides, getting knocked about by the people who clearly weren't watching where they were going or those who just didn't care who they bumped into. He bore it all with a slightly panicked look; he hated crowds. There was just so much danger there. Finally he was out and he could breathe in relative safety, darting out of the school gate and starting his walk to his dad's coffee shop. He worked there on the afternoons.

Cars rushed by and Tweek winced at every one, imagining horrible scenes in which tires popped and cars swerved toward him, or exploded and pelted him with dangerously sharp shrapnel, or simply just tried to run him over for no reason. He knew that none of those were very probable, but he feared all the same. All his fear were products of his imagination and the force at which they tore at him was never gentle.

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he almost didn't notice when he finally arrived at the coffee shop, actually smacking into the door of the establishment and bouncing back. He rubbed at his nose, worried he might have broken it or made it bleed, but it was fine, and he stepped inside, rushing toward the back to drop off his stuff before putting on the latte brown apron that was his uniform and going over to where his father waited behind the counter.

His father greeted him jovially, asking him how his school day had been. Tweek smiled weakly.

"I-it was fine...hung out with m-my -_ngh_- friends a-and stuff."

A complete lie; he didn't have friends, but how could he tell his father that?

His father beamed, holding a coffee cup of his own as he stared off into the distance, the curls of warm steam giving him the air of someone refined. "Ah yes, the tender years of school...my own were like a well-brewed cup of french-vanilla coffee, light and sweet to the taste, with a creaminess to it that just left you feeling warm inside."

His dad must have been reading _Mansfield Park_ again, his metaphors actually had some rhetoric to them today. Tweek just smiled and nodded, and his dad wandered off with a dreamy look on his face, probably to go sit by the corner window and talk to random customers in strange, poetic litanies.

Tweek took his place behind the counter, nervously awaiting the first customer to come to him. He was good at this, the coffee business, God knows he had studied it long enough and finally something was paying off. The one thing he was good at besides being a spaz: taking and serving coffee orders.

He was well into the first ten minutes of being there, when the door opened and some familiar faces stepped through, arguing. Clyde and Butters were bickering in hushed voices, pushing something back and forth between them. Tweek had already served someone before them, he felt the small bit of confidence from an order gone successfully and waited anxiously for them to approach.

Butters greeted him first. "Heya, Tweek. I'ah'll have the mocha cappuccino, extra whipped cream on top please."

Clyde pushed a heavy folder into Butters' unsuspecting arms, turning to the twitchy blond. "Regular coffee, no sugar."

Tweek nodded obediently, grateful to have something to do and not converse with them. He didn't really know these people, they were practical strangers to him, and he was nervous with everybody. Even Clyde, who had run with the same group as him in their younger years, couldn't be called Tweek's friend, they never talked at all. They were different people in the same class, and Tweek regretted the fact he couldn't even talk to him anymore. The Clyde he remembered was a whiny, eager kid who's only loves were tacos and astronauts; who knew if that was the same now.

Butters was just an enigma to him.

He finished and put their orders on the countertop, uttering, "T-that'll be $6.72, pl-please."

Butters and Clyde looked at each other, the brunet with a puppy-dog look on his face and the other sighed, pulling out his wallet. Okay, so maybe Clyde hadn't changed too much. Butters paid and they removed themselves to a nearby table, continuing their argument. Tweek wondered what it could possibly be about, but decided not to interfere. They might get angry at him and go after his life or something.

However, he didn't have to interfere, they did it for him. Five minutes later Clyde perked up his head, catching Tweek's eye and waving him over.

"Tweek, come over here!"

The twittery employee hesitated, then carefully approached them, going from behind the counter and shuffling over to their table. Instantly Clyde's arm wrapped around him, drawing him forward to lean over with them; Tweek stifled a terrified shriek, eyes panicked. Oh God, what did they plan to do with him?

"You're my friend, right Tweek? We've been friends for a while, right?" The brunet looked at him expectantly, and Tweek quivered fearfully, wishing he would let him go. Physical contact had always freaked him out.

"U-uh, I-I guess..." Was he, really? When was the last time they had exchanged conversation?

"Great!" Now Butters looked at him, a clear hopeful look in his eyes. "See, Tweek, we were wonderin' if you could do somethin' for us. A favor, like. Please, for friends?"

Tweek bit back a whimper, looking with wide eyes at the both of them. "_Ngh..._"

Butters reached over to gently touch his hand; Tweek almost wet himself. "Please, Tweek, we need your help."

The coffee-addict hesitated, trembled, and finally gave a tiny nod. Clyde beamed, slapping him on the back, and Tweek almost fell flat on the small table. "Awesome, man, I knew we could count on you!"

Butters pushed a big black binder toward Tweek, the thing that they had been arguing about before, he supposed. "See, a, uh...certain someone left this in our las' class, and th' teach wanted us t'bring it to him, but we're kinda..." He searched for the right word, blushing as he struggled.

"Busy!" Clyde supplied, and Butters jumped on it. "Yeah, busy! Could ya bring it to 'im, Tweek? Please?"

Tweek twisted his jerking hands in his apron, freaked out beyond all comprehension. Oh great, what had he gotten himself into? What if it was a mob member, an alien, or some kind of horrible serial killer who would sooner murder him than thank him? He tried to calm himself down. This town was strange, but he didn't think they would allow aliens or mob members in the school, and a psychopathic killer would have already been noticed and caught, right? He took a whimpering breath. It couldn't be anybody too bad, right? No, of course not.

"W-who is it?"

Butters and Clyde exchanged another look, this time hesitant and in Butters' case, more than a little scared. Clyde turned back to the Tweek he still held, giving him a sheepish smile.

"Uh, it's actually C—"

"Oh my God, look at th' time!" Butters shot up, face blushing and nervous. "Come on, Clyde, we gotta get t' the'...thing, right?" He looked to Tweek. "Y'can just look inside, his name is right there." He pulled at Clyde and the brunet instantly responded.

"Um, yeah, Tweek! You can just look inside! Well, gotta go, see you later!"

And with that they were gone, taking their cups with them and leaving the binder. The blond stared after them, his apprehension rising as he looked down at the black binder, laying innocently on the table. He glanced up at the closed door and around at the quietly murmuring customers at their tables, then nervously picked it up, taking it with him into the safety of the back room. There, alone after he shut the door behind him, he opened the cover of the heavy binder, finding himself staring at messy papers stuffed in random order within, scrawling handwriting covering it in formulas and other bits of writing. Tweek's eyes wandered over the first page, searching for a name. On the top left corner, he saw one, scrawled in close-set, sharp black ink.

Tweek screamed, flinging the thing away from him, sending half of its contents scattering across the floor.

No, no, he wouldn't do it, he couldn't do it! There was no _way_ he was going to deliver this, none at all!

Not to Craig Tucker.

Tweek whimpered in panic, grabbing thick handfuls of his yellow hair. Oh Jesus Christ, what had he gotten himself into? He couldn't deliver that, not to him, not to that petrifying mask of his! He moaned, twitching uncontrollably, his usual willpower to hold it in check gone by the fear running through his system.

Damn, how could he have agreed to their stupid favor? This was why you couldn't trust anybody, because they just used you and threw your fears in your face! Tweek thought the thought both angrily and horrified, staring at the object of his misery. What could he do? He couldn't go to Craig's house, but what would happen if he didn't? Sweet Jesus, if he didn't get his stuff back, he'd get mad, right? And then he'd go after Clyde or Butters and then they'd surely tell him and then he'd get even more pissed and go after Tweek himself and KILL HIM IN BRUTAL WAYS!

Tweek moaned and squirmed, staring at the binder like it was a demon staring him down across the floor. Maybe it was. He couldn't decide right now what to do with it, how could he? He squirmed some more, then slid to the floor, almost crawling away from the thing and back out of the room's door, coming into the space behind the counter. He picked himself up shakily, biting his lip. He would decide later what to do with it, yeah, he didn't have to decide anything right now, of course not. He would just wait until his shift was over, and _then_ think about it. Sure.

No big deal.

Of course, when the time came to close up shop, he was once again faced with the decision of what to do with the cursed thing. He twitched erratically, once again in the back room as he stared at the thing with big, wide hazel eyes, biting his nails anxiously. Jesus, what should he do, what should he do? Tweek looked around, hesitating, waiting vainly for something to come along and decide for him. Obviously, nothing came and Tweek reached up to tug on his hair, sending one tiny prayer up to God before quickly dashing forward and picking it up, holding it tightly to his chest. It was too late now to deliver it, he'd just bring it home for safekeeping or something. At least then, if Craig came after him for blood, he'd still have it in his possession as some sort of bargaining tool. Yes, good idea.

And so Tweek locked up—his dad had gone home a while ago—and ran home, eyes wide and fearful as he scanned the surrounding bushes, wary of the possibility that Craig himself might know by now that he had the binder and jump out at him from the leafy depths.

He didn't sleep that night.

* * *

Tweek twitched anxiously in his first period class, his mind far away from the trig rules of triangles that were the subject of his teacher's lesson.

He'd left the binder at home. All night he had been staring at it, horrible images of torture at the hands of the vengeful masked Craig running through his mind, destroying even the slightest possibility to even think about falling asleep. Tweek couldn't bear the thought of handing it to him, of searching him out and looking him in the face.

Seriously, that mask freaked him out. Badly. He got even worse shivers just picturing it. He couldn't explain it, because he knew it was really only a mask. But in his mind's eye it expanded, twisted that deep grin it wore and then opened, teeth gnashing and tearing as Craig hosted it on his mouth. The raven was carrying some kind of demon with him, taking possession of his mouth and if Tweek got close enough, he'd open those terrible jaws of his and rip him to pieces. Tweek whimpered, tugging on his hair and sipping loudly at his coffee cup. A couple of people shh-ed him but he was beyond caring at this point.

His eyes stuck to the clock and he nibbled his lips, looping a lock of his flyaway hair around a shaky finger, over and over again. Craig had to know by now that his binder was missing, that he'd left it someplace. How long before he tracked down Clyde and Butters? And then him? Or had he already forced a confession from the fearful minds of the other two? Did he know now that Tweek had it? Oh God, was he coming for him _right now_? The twitchy blond's head hit his desk as he screwed his eyes shut, barely holding back a sob.

Sweet Jesus, he was so screwed...

The bell rang, interrupting his morbid thoughts and Tweek looked up, startled as around him the unsightly sounds of chairs scraping back and rushing feet rang loud in the enclosed space. He tugged once more on his hair, picked up his stuff and shuffled out, miserably contemplating how much it'd cost for a quick call to hire a lawyer so he could arrange his last will and testament.

He wanted orchids at his funeral. And none of that stupid funeral music either, he hated that. And like _hell _any of the gnomes were invited.

By lunch however, he was having slightly more cheerful thoughts about his existence. The office secretary had probably saved him about a couple hundred dollars when she refused to let him use the phone, even when he had very urgently explained that he need to call a lawyer, seeing as nothing had happened to him so far. He hadn't even seen Craig Tucker around the halls. They never ran into each other anyway, what were the chances that the raven knew where to find him? Ha, he was creepy, not psychic, right? Of course. Tweek consoled himself with that happy thought as he trooped like an obedient student to the lunchroom, thinking about the coffee cake he had stored in his backpack today. Lunch room food sucked, and Tweek never ate much at any given time anyway.

Sitting down at a solitary table near the back of the room, by the short stage sometimes used by the dance teams to perform for the students during this time, he pulled out the little treat, carefully opening the package to prevent any flying away and nibbling on it slowly, dipping some in his coffee every once in a while. He would enjoy himself, eat his lunch in peace, and then focus later on the problem of—

Tweek's eye wandered across the crowded room, and he froze, his throat convulsing in shock and causing him to silently choke on his food. The black mask of Craig Tucker stared back at him across the lunch room and Tweek pounded on his chest frantically as thoughts of death by asphyxiation ran through his mind, finally spitting out little pieces of the now not-so-delicious treat. It wasn't that the raven was staring at him, and he sent up a quivering prayer of thanks to whatever God was looking after him at this moment, but he was there, far away across the room, and Tweek felt that now slightly familiar fear as he saw the wide, toothy grin of the black cloth.

He shivered at the proximity between them. Oh God, Craig had to know by now, right? He did, there was no way he didn't...what if he felt his presence or something? Sweet Jesus, what if he felt Tweek's _fear_ and came after him here? Oh sweet, _merciful_ God, he didn't want to die in a stinky school cafeteria!

But seconds passed and nothing happened, Craig didn't look up to meet his scared gaze, and Tweek slowly calmed down, sipping at his coffee warily, his coffee cake forgotten. It didn't seem like Craig was too busy searching anybody out...in fact, it didn't see like he was too busy doing much of anything, to be exact.

Craig Tucker was just sitting there, head slightly bent as he stared into the fake wooden surface of the cafeteria table in which he sat alone. He didn't have any food in front of him, which was strange, because no matter how disgusting the food was in here, everyone still either ate it or brought in something of their own, seeing as school days made everyone hungry. Of course, now that Tweek thought about it, having that mask on would make it a little hard to eat or drink anything, but you could just take it off and be fine...or did he really not want to take it off? Was he really that attached to the mask, creepy as it was?

Tweek slurped some more at his coffee, his fear of previously alluded-to mask fading in light of his curiosity. His curiosity was always a monster in itself...no matter what he was afraid of, he was certain it would have gotten him killed had he been in a horror movie. But anyway...Tweek felt the slightest bit of pity as he stared at the solitary raven. He was alone too, but that didn't really matter; he had always been more of a loner type, hindered by his inability to trust very deeply and it had never bothered him much. It was for the best, after all, with no attachments, there was no possibility of getting betrayed to the CIA or anything...his paranoia kept him too busy to be lonely anyway. But Craig had always had friends, before he got that mask at least, and it seemed a little bad that no one sat next to him now.

A vague memory stirred in the depths of Tweek's memory and he frowned, trying to pull it up. Craig himself wasn't a bad person, he knew this from experience...right?

Yeah...Craig had let him borrow money once, when they were in...fifth grade? Tweek tapped his head with his finger, willing himself to remember. Fifth grade...and he'd wanted one of those new Venti-sized gingerbread and cinnamon-flavored mochaccinos from Starbucks, 'cuz they were a Christmas special and his father's coffee shop hadn't had anything close to it. But...he remembered that he hadn't had any money for it; he'd spent it all the day before on a shiny green thermos with a metallic silver leaf pattern on it. In fact, it was the one he still had...but he'd been sad, and too embarrassed to ask anybody for money...

How had Craig given him money again? The blond suddenly remembered. The sadness had affected him that day, he hadn't been drinking coffee as much. And Craig had somehow noticed and asked him why during lunch; he'd been too distracted to accurately wonder at the randomness of such an occurrence. Tweek had reluctantly admitted to his dilemma and the raven had handed him all the money he'd had in his pockets, which came out to a total of $10.64.

He thought he could still remember what he'd shrieked out in response.

"_Nnahh_! I can't take it, i-it's your money! What if it's counterfeit? Sweet _Jesus!_"

Craig had just stared at him. "Don't be such a spaz. Take it."

Tweek could have hugged him at that point, counterfeit money or not. He remembered buying two of the things, then later a small coffee from his dad's shop.

The memory made him wince uncomfortably. He had all but forgotten his fear of the mask by now, and his thoughts roiled curiously. It was the only time Craig had done something nice for absolutely no reason. Other than that, he couldn't remember any other interactions of the kind. Just tiny conversations whose details faded from his mind.

But Craig himself couldn't be bad, right? Well, he certainly could have changed in the past years, or perhaps kidnapped by aliens and brainwashed in _pure evilness_, but those weren't very viable ideas, even if they were tempting to think and obsess about.

Tweek slurped coffee slowly, his thoughts turning back to the black binder. He didn't think Craig would hurt him if he returned it...Tweek suddenly remembered he'd left it at home and winced again. Ah...hmmm, he'd return it tomorrow then. He still wasn't going over to the other guy's house, no matter how his opinions changed. People got kidnapped and raped that way!

The _hell_ if that was gonna happen to him.

Tweek went back to class calmer than before now that he didn't think Craig was after his meager life, and a little bit proud that he'd done away with a bit of his fear, no matter how small it was. After school he went to his father's coffee shop again, tolerating the metaphors and random rhetoric about life and the drink he himself was so addicted to.

"My day's been like a white chocolate frappuccino, light and frothy, sipped through a sugar straw and and sweet on my tongue."

"Uh..._ngh_, y-yeah..." Tweek nodded, a little bit disturbed but unsure why, casting wary looks at his father as he tottered away. Putting on his apron, he wondered if he should have gone home instead; he shivered thinking about the homework waiting for him...

The small tinkle of the door bells ringing caught his attention, and he looked up to see Butters walking through the threshold. He looked scared, not like he was about to buy a calming cup of coffee in Tweek's opinion, and that opinion was soon confirmed into fact as Butters' eyes latched onto Tweek, and the other quickly veered toward him.

"Hey, Tweek...how y'doin'?"

"Um...g-good." Tweek twitched, then hesitantly offered as he looked at the other blond. "D-do you want -_ngh_ a-a coffee? O-on the house...you don't -_hnn-_ l-look too good."

"No thanks." Butters leaned across the counter, his mind clearly on another subject. "I'ah'm sorry f'r pullin' that on ya yesterday, but...have y'given Craig his stuff back yet?"

"I...I forgot it at home." Tweek lied, unwilling to share his earlier fear. Butters' eyes widened, and he looked shocked.

"Ooh, Tweek..." Butters bit his lip nervously, big blue eyes worried. "Y'should go give it t'him soon..."

"Why?" Tweek felt a stuttering in his heart, his fear peeking back up again. "D-did he say anything? _Ngh!_"

Butters paled and he drew back from the counter a bit, tapping his knuckles in a frantic beat as he recalled the event. "Oh God, Tweek, he came up t'me today...he said if I had it I should give it t'him right then and there..." he shivered. "It was like th' devil himself was talkin' to me. An' then Clyde told me he got to 'im too! He's gonna come after ya Tweek..." Butters shook his head, pushing back blond locks. "I'ah'm serious."

Tweek struggled to control his thoughts, he remembered how he still had that one memory of Craig being nice. Anyone who gave him money for coffee couldn't be purely evil. "Um, I-I'm certain he won't...do anything. I'll just -_ngh-_ give i-it back tomorrow."

Butters looked at him in what almost could have been admiration. "Gosh, Tweek...I'ah didn't know you were so brave..."

Tweek blushed, fiddling with his apron strings. "N-no, I-I'm not...I just don't think C-Craig is so mean."

The other reached over to pat his arm. "Y'got a big heart, Tweek, tha's f'r sure." Butters drew back, glancing around. "Well, I'ah just came t'ask if you'd given Craig his stuff...but I'ah guess y'can give it t'him tomorrow, like y'say; if you're not worried, then...I'ah'll see ya later, 'kay?"

"Y-yeah..." Tweek tried for a smile, and barely managed it; Butters returned it with much less enthusiasm—if that was possible—and exited the shop, leaving Tweek full of conflicting emotions.

What if Craig really did hunt him down? Oh God...Tweek shivered, his twitching speeding up. No, no, he had already gone through this during lunch and all of the school day. Craig wouldn't do anything. He was okay. He had given him money for coffee. Sure, it was a long time ago, but the sentiment had remained!

...

Tweek nibbled anxiously on his nails and returned to concentrating on his job, rubbing the counter to absolute clean perfectionism in his repeating worry.

* * *

The day was still light when Tweek returned home, letting his dad take the rest of the day shift and shuffling back along the dirty roads to go do his homework in the calmness of his safe sanctuary: his room. Tweek sighed in relaxation just thinking about his room. Mmm, decorated tastefully—almost literally—in warm coffee colors, with his own little coffeemaker in it and his pretty red laptop that he so loved...Tweek remained in his stupor of tranquility until he reached the house, opening the door and stepping inside. His mother was inside in the kitchen, grinding down coffee beans and mixing strange new flavors to taste.

"H-hey, mom." Tweek gave a tiny wave, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Hi, honey...I'm a little busy right now, I've nearly got the perfect combo of vanilla and raspberry mocha! Go play with your toys, okay? I'll make dinner in a little bit."

Tweek looked down. "Okay..." His mother had some sort of thing with her, she never really noticed Tweek growing up, or paid much attention to him. She still talked to him as if he was some little kid. Tweek shambled up the stairs, examining patterns in the fabric of the carpet. Home was alright, he guessed, it wasn't like it was dangerous or scary like the outside world, but he still felt more than a little bit uncomfortable here. He supposed he was being paranoid again. Home was where the heart is, but the only thing he really loved was coffee.

Two hours and some homework later, Tweek was lying facedown on his bedspread, papers scattered around him as his brain fried silently.

Sweet Jesus, homework was _hard._

It wasn't that he didn't know, he knew every freaking thing on every single paper! ...He just couldn't concentrate. Tweek tugged at his hair, thinking once more on whether or not Craig was really nice. If he was wrong, he risked painful death and horrible dismemberment! But if he was right...then it was one less thing to be afraid of. Tweek rolled around on his covers, eyes screwed shut as he pondered whether or not he trusted his brain enough to let it risk his very precious life. Sometimes he wondered what might happen to him if he just went away from it all. Certainly, he didn't have the worst life. Unless,of course, you had his brain. Tweek wouldn't wish his brain on anyone. So many nightmares and fears! He shivered thinking of them all.

But if he could calm down enough, maybe then he'd be normal. Tweek pondered the idea for a second then tossed it away. Nah, he'd never achieve that. Tweek yawned,and glanced at his clock. 8:59 p.m. Not too late. Not like he was going to sleep or anything. Tweek giggled at the thought of more coffee through the night.

A noise prickled at the edges of his hearing and Tweek gave a giant twitch, recognizing it as the doorbell to the house. He heard the sound of the water running in the upstairs bathroom and knew his mother was taking a bath. It was probably his dad coming home, and he'd just lost his keys again. His dad had a habit of losing his keys. It was a wonder the gnomes hadn't robbed them blind after this!

Tweek sighed and rolled off his bed, going downstairs to open the door for his dad. Should he talk to him about his worries? He didn't think he was going to get much of a straight answer, but it would help just talking, right? Yeah, Tweek would unburden himself of these worries, and then his fear of Craig and his mask would go away.

With that happy thought in mind, he opened the door.

And stared into the mask of DEATH, grinning evilly at him, teeth bared in a disgusting grimace, where above eyes as dark and blue as a raging sea bore into him with all the intensity of an iceberg. Raven hair as black as night whispered at him and Craig Tucker loomed above him, dangerous and _evil_.

Tweek screamed and slammed the door shut, tearing back into his room.

Huddled deep in his covers, Tweek trembled madly, his mind in a blaze of panic.

Oh _God_, he really had come, with his black grinning mask and teeth bared and eyes blazing with DEATH. Tweek squealed, terrified, wrapping the covers so tightly around himself he could barely breathe. What if Craig had gotten mad that he had slammed the door in his face? He had, hadn't he! Sweet Jesus, he was really in for it now...

By now Craig would be super pissed, kicking open the front door in a deadly rage, stomping up the stairs, fists clenched, mask-teeth bared...freakin' Christ, he could hear the stomps, the footsteps coming up the stairs, closer and closer, now at the _door_...Tweek froze, breath hitching in wheezing gasps as he heard the doorknob rattle, pushed forward and turned so that Crag would come and kill him in a bloody massa—

Tweek screamed shrilly, flailing in his cocoon of covers and choking in breathlessness, falling to the ground in a loud, painful 'thunk' as he squirmed in fear. He panted harshly, clutching the wrapped covers tightly to his chest, eyes wide as he waited for Craig to appear around the side of the bed.

Nothing happened.

He huffed lightly, breath puffing in and out as he shivered madly, finally gaining the courage to peek around the side, half-expecting Craig to jump out at him and scare him literally to death. Softly teared eyes peeked around anxiously, looking toward the door. His mind received a shock.

The door was closed. There was no evidence that it had been opened, kicked down in Craig's furious anger and knocked apart...the sounds and fear had all been in his head; Craig was probably long gone by now and had never set foot in his house. Tweek blushed as he realized how delusional he'd been. He'd deluded himself into an almost panic attack. How idiotic. How very clearly Tweekish.

The blond buried his head in the suffocating sheets around him, his heart still thumping. He was still terrified; all of the nice ideas he had entertained about Craig during lunch having completely fled his mind. Tweek could still see the demonic smile, the razor-sharp blue eyes and nightmare-black hair hiding most of his face. It creeped him out though, that he couldn't _see_ him! He whimpered, fingers tensing as he wondered if he could brave the length of his room to get at his thermos and its soothing drink.

Tweek felt more than a little guilty now. He had said himself that he didn't think Craig was bad or anything, and here he was hiding, scared half to death!

He just really hated that mask. It was too scary, too creepy for his overactive mind, it was just too much for him! He couldn't help it, he just couldn't...and now Craig was probably really angry, not only because Tweek had slammed the door in his face, but because he also hadn't gotten his folder back yet! Tweek looked toward the bedside table, where he saw the offending object lying innocently on the surface.

He had to bring it back...he couldn't keep it, obviously...Tweek gulped visibly, quivering like a rabid rabbit. He shook at what it all meant: he would have to face him, go to his house and face him after what he had just done. He'd have to stare at that mask full on.

Instantly, protests and fearful mutters attacked his hyperactive mind. No way, he couldn't do that! It was dark already, it was _dangerous_ out there, and besides, who even knew where Craig lived now? He could vaguely remember where Craig's house was, but that had been way back in elementary school; who knew if he still lived there now? Tweek flailed in the wrappings of sheets, wriggling his way to where his thermos was to take a few gulps. Now curled up safely on the floor with the thermos and his covers, Tweek tugged anxiously on his hair.

Could he get away with just trying to forget about it? No, he couldn't fake ignorance, besides Craig already knew from Butters and Clyde that he had it. And Craig would get more mad and just keep on hunting for him at his house!

Tweek squeaked, jolting up. No! No more Craig going to his house and scaring the crap outta him! It was this thought that decided him, and the blond struggled to free himself of the tight embrace his sheets had on him, grabbing his shoes and jacket. He fell trying to put the former on, and thrashed around the floor on his back like a overturned turtle, agitatedly struggling to put on his shoes. Thankfully they were the Velcro kind, not laced. His thermos was quickly scooped up and he gathered the black binder into his arms, fighting not to drop both in his trembling fit.

A moment later he was creeping down the stairs and past the kitchen, where his father and mother were doing stuff he'd rather not see, and tiptoed out the front door, peeking around carefully. The cold, bitter air of the night had no effect on him now, after all, he'd lived in South Park for all of his life. His watchful eyes scanned the surrounding area as he closed the door behind himself, looking out for any creepy perverts hiding in the bushes. You never could tell.

He shivered, biting his lip anxiously. Not only did the darkness hide any lurking perverts, but which way was Craig's house? And he'd thought he'd had an idea before...He danced on his toes, mumbling shiveringly to himself.

"Sweet Jesus, w-which way...that way, n-no -_ngh-_ argh, I can't remember!" Finally he gave up, reluctantly peeking back into his house. He didn't want to, but... "M-mom? Dad?"

There was a giggle and a 'hush' from the kitchen, and his mother's voice floated toward him. "Yes, honey?"

"Where's -_erk-_ C-Craig's house?"

"Who?"

Tweek hesitated nervously. "C-Craig Tucker. Um, h-he wears a blue hat a-and he's really tall..."

"Oh, him! Just go to your right down the street and it's the one right before the street ends. It's yellow."

"Thanks..." Tweek closed the door again and dashed down to the sidewalk, peering around. Okay, just go and then...well, he'd think about what to do when he got there. The blond jogged in the direction of Craig's house, thinking now that the path did seem a bit familiar. His thermos bounced in his hand and Tweek wondered in worry if he should have strapped it to his waist or something. God only knew with what, but maybe he should look into that. It seemed like a potentially good idea, and besides, no more falling coffee! Yippee!

Tweek's eyes saw the yellow house right before the end of the street and almost sighed. Good, this little trip was almost over. Then he froze, terrified. Oh great, he still had to knock on the door and everything!

Tripping feet slowly ascended the front steps and Tweek hesitated in front of the closed front door, wondering if he should knock. There was only a small chance that Craig would be the one to answer, but the chance was still there! What if he really did answer? Sweet Lord, what if he slammed the door in Tweek's face like Tweek had done to him and then accidentally broke his nose and left him to drown in a pool of bloody _blood_?

Tweek let loose a string of anxious squeaks, fear making his voice go too high for anyone to clearly register the "Oh God oh God oh God oh God..." that the squeaks had actually been.

He peered down at the binder in his hands, thinking frantically. Then he saw the floor. An idea hit him. He could just leave the bonder there, ring the doorbell, and run like hell! Then he wouldn't have to face Craig at all! Yeah! Dear Lord, he was a genius! Tweek beamed happily and bent down to sit on his haunches, sweeping away stray dirt and leaves from where he planned to leave the binder. No sense in making the binder dirty or anything. He carefully placed the binder down, patted it once and stood up, quickly pushing the doorbell. Then he turned to run like hell—

and bumped into a wall of deep midnight blue. Tweek shrieked as he came into contact, bouncing back and looking up...straight into the face of Craig Tucker. Again.

A million thoughts ran through his head at that point, but the main one being, '_He knows! He followed me, sweet Jesus, he's gonna kill me! He's gonna chop me up into little tiny pieces and feed them to his guinea pig so no one knows what happened to me and I'll DIE!_'

"ARRGH!" Tweek instinctively punched Craig in the face and ran screaming home.

* * *

Tweek wandered the dark grounds of school before the first bell, ridiculously early again. Peering anxiously around the shadows, he wondered miserably if he should just take the bus. The stinging fluttering of his heart in the thick crowd of the vehicle had to be better than the hurting, thumping pain his chest felt as he wandered around in desperate fear. Not that it even mattered.

He didn't even want to go to school today.

The blond had already bidden his most beloved things goodbye in the morning: he'd kissed his laptop, burst into tears over his coffeemaker, and told both of his parents he loved them. Not that they—his parents—knew the real reason he'd said it and simply accepted it with smiles and hugs and assurances that they loved him too, but it made Tweek feel better to do it. He walked around in resignation, despairing of the fact that he was going to die today.

He couldn't even afford a lawyer! He'd checked too, and that was way over his price range...Tweek sniffled miserably, wiping away a lonely tear. He'd wanted to do so many things in his life...invent twenty new coffee flavors, go to a Justin Beiber concert, participate in a cross-country car race, go to space and see the moon peek over the Earth! Okay, well, not really, he didn't really have much planned for his life, but it wasn't like he wanted to _die_ or anything!

Tweek peered inside of his thermos and sipped at his coffee, pondering over his decision. With Craig surely coming to kill him now, he wondered about everything. Should he have come to school? What if he had just stayed home? Then he'd be comfortable when Craig came to kill him for punching him in the face. But he couldn't do that, because then his parents would get involved and then they'd die too, and besides, if he went to school, then there would be witnesses and it'd be a lot harder for Craig to come kill him horribly. It was a delusional way to try to survive, but Tweek wasn't a fan of pain and death, much less of anything to come kill his parents, so he dealt with the fear of the lonely school in the morning...

A thought struck him and he froze.

Hadn't he seen Craig here in the morning? Three days ago, when he'd almost tripped over him? Didn't that mean Craig came super early too?

...

Tweek paled, almost dropping his coffee as the realization hit him. Craig was on these very grounds, hungering for Tweek's blood, and here he was alone, with no one around. Sweet God, he'd just made it easier for Craig to come and KILL HIM!

Tweek screamed, running off in a random direction, unsure of where he wanted to go, but knowing it had to be away from the spot he was just in, because surely Craig had been watching him now as he thought the very thoughts he was thinking. After a tiring moment, he slowed and stopped, finding himself in the middle of the very dark and lonely portables, where the only thing he could hear was the chirp of crickets. He sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead as his feet plodded along, too accustomed to the ingrained reflex of moving to avoid vulnerable stillness to stop. Tweek peeked up curiously at a portable and the steps leading up to the door that hovered four feet off the ground.

These things seemed lonely enough. He could stay here and not come across anyone until the first bell rang. Hmmm, this wouldn't be such a bad place to claim the steps to one and make them his own little spot. It wasn't like anyone would complain. And besides, Tweek reasoned slightly happier now, there wasn't any chance that Craig could find him here, in the loneliness that reigned here. There absolutely no _wa—_

He rounded the corner, and a squeak froze in his throat.

Craig Tucker was sitting on the steps to one such lonely portable, seemingly sleeping, but his head raised as Tweek's footsteps shuffled to a terrified stop on the dewy grass, and their eyes met.

Tweek's breathing stopped completely, and Craig just stared at him; from here it looked like his eyes were completely black. And was Tweek's imagination, or was he grinning? Was that mask stretching tighter, more crookedly, teeth growing sharper?

Was he waiting to pounce?

Tweek didn't wait to find out, he turned and ran, scampering away as fast as his trembling legs could take him. His lungs seized in shortened burst, depriving him of air as he ran from his fear. Tweek wanted to cry; he'd never been so afraid for his life before.

Finally he stopped and looked back, and it amazed him that Craig wasn't following him, right on his heels to snap up his soul or something. Tweek clenched his hands, bringing up his thermos to take a grateful sip he wasn't dead and...came up with nothing. His thermos was gone. Tweek shrieked in shock, the sound going unheard in the emptiness as he turned around frantically, searching the ground around him for the missing gourd of life. There was nothing, he had lost it.

Tweek yanked at his hair in terrified silence, too shocked to say anything. What happened to it, where had it gone? Instantly Tweek flashed back to his terrifying meet with Craig and the color was leeched from his face as he hit upon the realization.

He had dropped it. He had dropped it back there and now Craig had it.

The blond went over to the nearest wall and sank down to the ground, starting to cry, because now he had no coffee, no pretty silver-green thermos, and he was certain Craig wasn't gonna give it back.

Tweek thought his heart was breaking.

* * *

A twittery blond stared at the clock of his third period class, his heart fluttering weakly in his chest as his fingers tangled in circles in his hair.

He was lonely.

Tweek never knew how lonely he could get without his thermos, after all, it was only a thermos. But it seemed he had been more attached to it than he had known, and now his felt a pang in his heart as he thought about where it was at. He buried his head in his arms, feeling tears prickle his eyes again. He wanted his thermos back...it had coffee in it and it was his precious green and silver leaf one...he had made memories with that one!

Sadness clung to his every bone, and all Tweek wanted to do was go home and sleep, or at the very least curl up somewhere and cry again. He didn't care now that Craig was most likely coming to kill him, what did it matter? It felt like his best friend was gone.

He'd never felt so lethargic before in his entire life...Tweek wondered if even this should be affecting him this much but tossed it out of his mind. Of course he should feel this way, he was lonely! He gave a tiny sniffle in the circle of his arms and swallowed, feeling the dryness in his throat. He hadn't had coffee in so long...this was the longest he'd gone without coffee in about four years and he missed the hot feeling, the sweet taste of the drink he so loved.

His heart fluttered again and Tweek felt so tired, just purely lonely and miserable. He didn't think he could wait enough to get home and get one of his back-up thermoses, and besides, how could he ever replace his favorite one?

The bell rang for next class and Tweek reluctantly got up, feeling even weaker than before. His movements seemed so much slower to himself as he picked up his things and started to walk toward the door, missing the safe and comforting feeling of his thermos in his hands.

He was just within reach of the door amongst the others of his class, when the debilitating feeling got worse and his vision swam in black, and he was unconscious before he even hit the floor.

* * *

A warm, soothing scent prickled his nose and Tweek moaned, curling up tighter in his sheets. He could smell coffee, all nice and reassuring, right beyond his reach and his eyes fluttered open as his hands clenched in anticipation of the delicious treat.

The warm tones of his room met his half-blurred eyes and Tweek yawned, feeling both well-rested and weak as he sat up. A dizzy feeling struck him and he gripped the bed for support, looking over. A gently steaming cup of coffee lay on his bedside table and he gratefully picked it up, breathing in the delicious fumes before taking a quick sip. It had to be one of his parents who had done this kind gesture for him, and he wondered vaguely why they hadn't given it to him in his thermos.

Another curious sip and suddenly a tremendous feeling hit Tweek in the head: both realization and memories hit him at once, and he shrieked, jolting in his bed. A warmth spread over his lap and Tweek realized he'd spilled about half of the precious coffee on his covers; he whimpered at the unnecessary loss before gulping down the rest.

He remembered the aching feeling of loss, the debilitating tiredness, and the fact that he still didn't have his thermos. And although he still felt sad, he felt nowhere close to that lonely weakness he had felt in class. Truth hit him and Tweek felt like slapping himself. Had he really drunk so much coffee over the years that he'd forgotten what a caffeine crash felt like?

Tweek got up, legs still slightly shaky as he waited for the caffeine to pick him up to his normal levels. Wobbling over to his coffeemaker, he turned it on, measuring coffee grounds and water from the jug he kept by it, then waiting the necessary minutes for the coffee to come into being, pouring himself another cup and fixing it with sugar and creamy milk, just like he liked it.

He sipped at it, moving to open the door and go downstairs. How long had he been asleep? Was it still the same day? He froze in his tracks. Had Craig killed his parents yet? He rushed downstairs, risking life and limb to skip steps as he almost crashed to the ground, stumbling and luckily regaining his balance. His parents peeked out from the living room, and his mother rushed forward.

"Oh, my baby's all awake now! How're you feeling sweetie?" She hugged him lightly and Tweek ventured a smile. They were okay.

"O-okay, I guess..." His dad came forward and loomed over him, a stern expression on his face.

"Tweek, what have I told you about going without coffee? Crashes are dangerous, you worried your mother and I!"

Tweek blinked in surprise. His dad must have been really worried; he wasn't even speaking in metaphors today. He lowered his head, feeling slightly ashamed. "Sorry..."

His father patted his head, smoothing over the soft ends of his yellow spikes. "It's alright."

The blond's heart stuttered wonderfully, and Tweek basked in the feeling of his parent's concern. They were strange and definitely abnormal, that was for sure, but it was really good to know they were there for him if he was ever in trouble. Suddenly his father spoke up.

"Say, where's your thermos, Tweek? We couldn't find it when we went to pick you up."

Tweek froze, remembering where it was, and hesitated, venturing out a lie. "Um, I-I must have -_ngh-_ l-left it...i-in the classroom..." He prayed they accepted it.

"Ah, okay. Just make sure you pick it up as soon as you can, okay?"

"Okay." Tweek nodded obediently and then retreated back to his room, sipping coffee from his cup.

What was he going to do now? His thermos was being kept hostage by someone he had no inclination to see ever again! Tweek tugged anxiously on his hair, at a loss about what to do next. He wasn't going to go to Craig's house again, there was no way he'd suffer through that again. But he couldn't just abandon his beloved thermos to the hands of that person, no matter what. It was his friend, after all, as sad as it might seem to someone else. He had to rescue it!

Tweek's scalp gave a twinge as he tugged on his hair again, very close to a panic attack. Was there any chance that Craig would return it himself? Would he drop it off at Tweek's house or search him out and hand it to him in the early hours of the school day? He gnawed on his cup anxiously. Maybe if Tweek hadn't freaked out when he'd returned the binder, if he hadn't punched Craig, then maybe he could have thought that Craig would have returned it easily, but not now. He would be lucky if Craig didn't explode it into a million pieces or something. Tweek paled. Oh God, what if he _did_ explode it into a million pieces? No!

He slurped up the remainder of his coffee, his mind buzzing in worry. He really wanted it back though...looking at his clock and the date it announced, he discovered it was still the same day, although now eight at night. It was dark outside...he really wasn't going to venture out to Craig's house now, he valued his innocent chastity too much to brave the old man perverts that were surely lurking out there.

Damn perverts...

He glanced at the clock, then nervously at his window. He wasn't going to get it back tonight, that was for sure. Sighing, he resigned himself to bring out a temporary replacement from his closet until he found a way to get his favorite one back.

* * *

Tweek hurried to his next class, slurping coffee as he went. He hated the feeling of a new thermos rim, it didn't feel right. He missed his old one. But he couldn't think about that right now, he had to get to class.

Once there, Tweek sat down in his seat in the back, playing absently with his thermos, a shiny scarlet orange one that was his second favorite. But it wasn't his _favorite_ favorite. Tweek had wandered the school grounds fearfully in the morning, this time actually looking for Craig, so maybe he could plead and get his thermos back by some miracle of chance. But somehow this time he never found him, even when he checked in the most lonely corners of the school he could find.

What if he never got his thermos back? Tweek nibbled his fingertips, wondering if Craig felt this desperate when Tweek had his binder. No, of course not, that guy never got fazed by anything. Unlike Tweek of course, who was now freaking out over a single thermos, even when he had multiple others waiting for use in his closet.

What could he do now? He didn't know where any of Craig's classes were, or where he hung out, or anything! Even though he didn't want to meet with him, there was no choice. He would face his fear, if only for his thermos, and it would be today. Because he _really_ didn't want to go to his house all alone.

Tweek had a hard time keeping with his resolution, though, seeing as he had no flippin' idea where in the world Craig was. The class ended with no new solutions, and Tweek was left to wander down to the cafeteria for lunch, sad and depressed over the loss of his pretty thermos. He sat in his usual table, pulling out the slice of Hersey's chocolate cheesecake he'd grabbed from his dad's store and sighed, taking a bite moodily. He could feel tears prickling in his eyes again...

He had a few peaceful moments eating before he started to get an itchy feeling, like a prickling at the edges of his consciousness. He squirmed, unsure of what it was, then looked up, staring out into the masses of people talking and eating their food. Then his eyes met the one solitary, dark, dark pair that stared at him like razors from the crowd and he froze, feeling very much like a deer in the proverbial headlights.

Craig Tucker was staring at him from across the cafeteria.

Tweek didn't know what to do, he felt himself tremble violently as he stared back, feeling as if his very eyes were being held by some invisible force and made to meet Craig's. He clutched his thermos tighter, quailing within himself. What did he want? Tweek shivered at the thought that maybe he still wanted to kill him and leave him mangled and bloody on the metaphorical valley of death, which would really be anywhere that he chose to kill him. But really? Would he do that? In front of so many witnesses?

Would anyone care? Or try to stop him?

The blond felt his breath stay stuck in his lungs, unable to breathe as his fingers tightened more and more on his thermos, feeling quite dizzy with fear. Then all of a sudden his fingers slipped and his thermos popped from his hands, tipping over and spilling most of his coffee on the table surface. He leapt up, squealing as he broke eye contact and scrambling to right his thermos, finally stopping the last bits from dripping out. He felt a chill run down his spine and he looked up, terrified and feeling very much that when he focused, Craig would be right in front of him, like one of those creepy horror movies.

Craig wasn't there like he feared, but he_ was_ getting up from his solitary table, and as Tweek watched, walked calmly away and out of one of the double doors of the cafeteria. Tweek was left there, stunned and wondering what had just happened.

Then a thought struck him. Sweet _Jesus_, what if Craig had decided to _bomb the entire building?_ And here he was, sitting like an idiot. Tweek shrieked loud enough to shatter lightbulbs and definitely turn heads, but he didn't care, he was already running through the aisles and out of the side doors into the empty courtyard. Glancing around in a circle with wide, freaked-out eyes, he searched for any sign of the terrorist bomber, Craig, then turned to run away from the impending explosion...

and predictably, ran into a wall of deep midnight blue.

He had whirled around so fast he actually lost his balance at this sudden contact, falling on his ass to the hard concrete below. He shrieked for a split second before he realized who it was that he had run into. He looked up to the looming form of Craig Tucker. And all the color ran from his face like watercolors off a plastic dish. The deadly raven bent down and Tweek reacted, flinching away and holding the replacement thermos in front of him like some shining silver shield that would protect him, hiding his head on the other side as his eyes screwed shut.

Tweek held his breath as he trembled, waiting for the moment his life would end and he squeaked as a strong hand pulled the thermos from his hand, leaving him clutching empty air. His heart stuttered in fear and he trembled even further, mind racing. Craig had just stolen another thermos! he wanted to leave him bereft of any comfort whatsoever before death, and at the thought Tweek felt tears prickle his eyes, crossing his arms in front of him as a last protection.

All of a sudden he felt something touch his right hand and he cringed, waiting for a knife cut, gunshot, something to kill him, but got nothing in return. And there was still the slight pressure on his hand. After a tense moment, Tweek shuddered and plucked up enough courage to peek up, hoping beyond all hope he wouldn't be staring into the barrel of a gun or something.

Instead he saw metallic green, and a light pattern of silver leaves peering right back at him. It took a moment for Tweek to realize what he was seeing, but then it hit him and he reached out a shaking hand, fearfully grasping his most favorite thermos. It was real, it was there, and he took it away from Craig's hand carefully, and the raven _let_ him. Tweek held it close and registered the familiar empty weight, the light scent of coffee that it held to itself, no matter how many times you washed it. A shuffled sound caught his attention and Tweek looked up to see Craig handing him the other orange thermos, letting him have it as easily as the other one.

He stared up at Craig and his mask, then down at both of his precious thermoses, here in his hands, and suddenly he felt this overflowing feeling hit him, like he had just rediscovered a long lost friend or a beloved brother that had been missing. Tweek burst out in tears, bawling like some small child as he held them close to his chest, still sitting on the dirty ground. He cried for a little while, feeling happier than he had in a long time and then finally got control of himself, realizing with a start that Craig had just seen him cry. He blushed; how embarrassing.

Tweek looked up, his face still red, and then gave a start, looking around in surprise.

Craig Tucker was gone.

* * *

The bed had never felt so warm and safe as the moment in which he lay in it now, and Tweek cuddled into it gratefully, holding his green and silver thermos to his chest. It was late at night and he was curled up in his own little corner of quiet, a.k.a. his room, and Tweek was feeling like his chi was at harmony with the world...he really didn't know if the world had any chi, but whatever. He was feeling good.

The clock hit 3:33 and suddenly Tweek heard his door creak open in the darkness, then the patter of little feet and shit-eating giggles. He waited until they came closer then struck, lunging up with a war cry and throwing his pillow in the direction of the sounds.

A muffled curse and a couple of 'ow's came, and Tweek threw another pillow, this time loaded with his extra thermoses. This one made a dent and there were squeals and more curses, and a mushroom hit Tweek in the head. He squeaked and fell back, but it was over, the gnomes were retreating; he heard their calls and running feet and they were gone again, the door closed and it was silent again.

Tweek got up to switch on his lights and picked up his pillows, feeling very satisfied with himself. Ever since he had given up on sleep a while back, he was finding himself more than a match for those stupid gnomes. He shook his fist at the door.

"Ha! T-take that!"

And with that satisfying line he went back to his bed, cuddling his thermos again. He just couldn't get enough of it, it was so pretty and just his absolute favorite. It was actually literally his best friend. He didn't talk to it or anything insane like that but it held this feeling of comfort to it that he loved beyond all measure.

It was a wonder Craig hadn't used it for blackmail or anything.

Tweek rolled onto his back, taking a thoughtful sip from his thermos as he thought further on this. He was still surprised. He had relinquished the precious object so easily, so carelessly back into Tweek's possession, and the blond felt a prickling of shame as he thought about how hard it was for him in contrast to have given the binder back to its rightful owner.

He bit his lip hesitantly, staring at his thermos. Now he knew Craig wasn't bad, he very clearly wasn't. What kind of an evil person would give him his things back so easily? Not unless he had some ulterior plan to win over his trust and then drug him and STEAL HIS ORGANS, but he didn't think that was very likely. At least, he hoped not.

But Craig couldn't be too evil. Tweek shook his head resolutely, accepting the sure fact. The mask was nothing more than that, a mask, and Tweek had let the fear blind him to the fact that Craig was an okay guy. Of course, he was still scared of the damned black thing, because it was creepy and scary and he didn't like it, but now that fear would be tempered by the fact that he knew better about the person who wore it. Who knew what reason Craig wore that terrifying thing, but! He would be scared no longer.

Tweek slurped some more coffee and huggled his thermos again. If he could, he'd tell Craig thank you for returning it so quickly.

* * *

Another dark morning, another early walk around campus and Tweek warily peered around corners and shadows, his senses on high alert. He found a quiet little dark corner and rushed toward it, sitting down with his back to the wall and hurriedly slurping his hot drink.

It had been two weeks since Craig had returned his precious friend, and Tweek hadn't seen him since. Not in the mornings, although he hadn't made much of an effort to seek him out, seeing as he was still wary of the sight of that demonic grin, or even in the cafeteria. They had discovered rats in there—as if that had taken anyone by surprise—and now they were all forced to take their lunch outside in the courtyard, as well as bring in their own to feed themselves. Tweek hadn't much minded, and he'd quickly scouted out a corner for himself to sit down away from the crowds and partake in his small lunches.

So he hadn't had much of a chance to see Craig. And by now, Tweek had fallen back into his old pattern of merely living day by day; he didn't really think back on the raven too much. He slurped his coffee, thinking about whether or not he had passed that test from yesterday in his English class. He was certain he had, he had studied the passage it was on for a long time before responding to the questions.

He was just thinking about pulling out his little LED light and a book to read from his backpack when something caught his eye, making him look up.

Craig Tucker, the now nice guy in his opinion, was walking down the little sidewalk between buildings, about twelve feet in front of Tweek. The blond was startled, and all of a sudden he remembered the happenings of two weeks ago. He debated as to whether or not to call out to him, because after all, Tweek might like him better, but that didn't mean Craig thought he was his friend or anything, and what if he got him mad and he went after his life again? Tweek squeaked at the thought but brought himself quickly under control, reaching up to tug at his blond locks. Before he could think better of it, he called out nervously.

"H-hey, Craig!"

The raven stopped and looked around, quickly spotting the half-hidden Tweek. The blond repressed a shiver as he saw the toothy grin and sharp eyes that bore into his very _soul_, but shyly raised a hand, giving Craig a hesitant little wave. Craig stared back for a moment then raised a hand in acknowledgment, turning and continuing on his way.

Tweek gave himself a tiny smile and an imaginary pat on the back for a job well done. At least now, he could say he hadn't run away.

* * *

Quick, crowded, shuffled feet, lots of noises and the sickly smell of ill-made food surrounded Tweek; just another lunch time in the cafeteria. He was thinking about this morning, how he'd said 'hi' to Craig and the other had said 'hi' back, in his own silent way. Maybe he could stick close to Craig in the mornings. If he had someone to hang out with in the mornings, then there'd be less of a chance he'd be attacked by wandering perverts, or psycho serial killers who jumped from shadowy corners. And if zombies came, then certainly Craig wouldn't just let him die; he was a good guy, right? Right, he had proof now, through his own experience!

Tweek nibbled his double-fudge brownie, wondering how to go about such a thing. How could he hang out with Craig in the morning without the other getting pissed off and beating the crap outta him? Hmm, such a puzzling dilemma...

As he was pondering this, he became aware of a commotion going on at the far end of the courtyard, and he perked his head up, staring curiously at the huge crowd that had formed about thirty feet in front of him.

All of a sudden people scattered, and Tweek could see a figure on the ground where the people had been at, and...was that Craig standing over that fallen figure? He thought it was and now administrators swooped down on what surely had been a fight—or more of an ass-whooping now that he saw the clearly unconscious poor bastard lying on the ground—and grab Craig harshly, leading him away. Others helped the other person up and led him in the direction of the clinic. Guess this killed his plan to hang out with Craig in the morning. What had caused the argument anyway?

Tweek looked around now and saw that the courtyard was empty; everyone had scattered to go back to class early. Then the deputy caught sight of him and in no kind terms told him to scram.

Tweek scampered off.

* * *

Craig had been suspended for four days, seeing as this time, the other person was still well enough to walk and go to school. Tweek saw him once. It was a senior, someone a full year older than Craig and Tweek, but still sporting a black eye and a face that looked like it'd run into a meat grinder. He could only imagine what he looked like under his jacket.

Tweek passed the following days contemplating if it was still safe for him to try out his friendship plan with Craig. Maybe he would get his ass kicked as well, he didn't know. His body twinged and ached every time he thought about it happening. Craig was a nice guy, but even he had his limits. As could be testified by that senior's face. But maybe if he played dead after a couple of hits Craig would leave him alone or something. But what if he broke a bone or smashed his face in and left him to drown in his own blood?

He shuddered at the very thought, then drank more coffee.

It was a Friday when Craig came back, and Tweek had decided to give his plan a try, risking both life, limb and face to put it into action. He slunk along the dark outside of the school, quivering as he examined the darkness for any lurking ravens. There wasn't any certainty he would find him this morning, or even at all; maybe Craig had just decided that going to school just before the weekend began was a pointless waste of his time and he'd stayed home.

It still didn't hurt to try to look for him anyway...Tweek tiptoed around, slurping coffee out of one thermos and trying to juggle the other in his grip without drinking from it accidentally. Yes, he had two thermoses with him now, but it was for a reason. He planned to offer the second one, his second favorite scarlet orange one, to Craig as a sort of peace offering, and in the hopeful attempt that it would deter the raven from beating him up and leaving him to die. Otherwise he would have to play dead, and he didn't think he was quite good at that yet, even though he had practiced at it all though the last four days.

After about twenty minutes Tweek gave up, sighing and looking around for a relatively safe corner to hide in and drink coffee that was meant for two people, not one. He sat down in the first corner he saw and stayed there quietly, feeling all the miserable-ness of a failed plan. He had just resigned himself to drinking his coffee alone, when a sight caught his eye and he looked up.

And lo behold, there was Craig Tucker himself, walking carelessly with a sort of aloof confidence down the darkness of the outside, as if he didn't fear cannibals or CIA agents jumping out at him. He probably didn't; that was just Tweek and his overactive mind. But anyway, there he was!

Tweek called out to him quickly, before he left.

"C-Craig!"

The raven's eyes instantly found him, and again Tweek felt the twinge of uncomfortableness as he looked at the bared fake teeth. He found himself more than a little shy now—he'd never asked anyone to sit with him and drink coffee before—and he raised a timid hand, waving shyly.

Craig looked at him and again raised his hand in a silent gesture, then turned to leave. Tweek felt the flutter of disappointment in his chest and he hurriedly called out again, unwillingly to see him leave so easily.

"W...wait!"

The raven stopped, and Tweek could see the expectant look in his eyes, his face being hidden by his hair and mask. Tweek hesitated, then meekly lifted the orange thermos for the raven to see, giving him a shaky, timid smile.

"Do...um, w-would you -_nhhh-_ l-like some coffee?"

Craig stared at him for a second, and Tweek was afraid that he'd just plain out refuse or get angry for reason because he actually HATED coffee or something...but none of that happened. Instead, the raven looked at him for another moment, then walked toward him, sitting down next to him and stretching out his hand for the coffee-filled thermos.

Tweek had to repress a shiver as he stared at the mask full on, and he looked down as he handed Craig his designated thermos, keeping his eyes down on the ground as he sipped at his coffee nervously.

He had never had someone sit so close to him before, much less anyone this nice and silent and dangerous. Tweek could feel Craig there, right by his side, and he sipped more at his coffee, anxious and shy in the silence. He couldn't believe he was actually doing this. He couldn't believe he was sitting next to Craig Tucker.

After a moment of silence, Tweek noticed something. Craig wasn't drinking the coffee. He paled, wondering if he had accidentally made that one taste horribly. He squeaked, catching Craig's attention.

"Jesus! You're n-not drinking it! _Gah_, d-does it taste bad? Is it horrible?" Tweek grabbed Craig by the shoulders, shaking him. "_Do you hate coffee?_" Then he caught sight of that horrible, frightful mask and was suddenly reminded of that one day in the cafeteria that he'd seen him, sitting all alone and not eating anything. Was it the mask? Did he really not want to take it off? "Oh! W-wait, _ngh,_ I-I know!" He lunged around in the other direction, scrabbling inside of his backpack for a second before finding what he was searching for. Tweek held it up proudly: a bendy straw. He shoved it in Craig's face, happy that he'd found a solution. "H-here!"

Craig stared at him, face blank, and Tweek felt a tremor of fear run through him. Did he manage to piss off Craig Tucker? The guy who could quite possibly be the most dangerous in the entire _school_? Was he going to be murdered in HORRIBLE, BLOODY WAYS? Tweek cringed, holding the straw like a shield—a sucky shield—praying to God he wouldn't die. "Please d-don't hurt me."

The raven made a noise that almost sounded like a scoff, reaching forward and plucking the straw delicately from Tweek's trembling fingers. Then he popped it in the thermos and slid the bendy part underneath the mask, and soon Tweek heard a slight '_shhlrt, shhlrt_' sucking sound come from the straw.

Tweek was relieved, not only that he wasn't going to be murdered brutally in the middle of a dark and lonely school, but also because he hadn't managed to piss off Craig Tucker. He sat there, feeling slightly calmer, and thought that he had chosen the right thing when he had decided to try to befriend Craig.

After a few moments of silent slurping, Tweek found his curiosity perking its poisonous little head up. It planted a tiny little seed in his rampaging head that never shut up, and soon Tweek was bursting at the seams with questions he wanted to ask. Why had he gotten into that fight? Was he lonely at lunch? Why did he come so early in the mornings? Why hadn't he killed Tweek when he had the binder? And why oh why, did he wear that scary mask? He squirmed for a while, casting diffident, surreptitious glances over at the raven while sipping at his coffee, and then he couldn't help it anymore, he opened his mouth to try to ask something and—

Craig turned to look at him, his eyes cool and warning. Tweek flushed and looked down again, swallowing his questions with another sip of liquid. His courage failed him, shriveling into a tiny little nub that hid inside him and didn't want to come out. He could ask later. Yeah, besides, he didn't want to put Craig off with too many questions. No, that would be bad...

"Thanks." Tweek looked up in surprise at the strange voice and an empty thermos fell into his lap at the same time Craig stood up and dusted himself off, taking a few steps away from the blond. Tweek's surprise faded into a sort of letdown; had he done enough to assure that Craig was at least somewhat of an acquaintance now? He wasn't sure, but he couldn't just leave it, so he stood up, clutching his thermos nervously.

"Um, C-Craig?"

The other turned to look at him and Tweek asked him hesitantly, "...you -_ngh-_ w-wanna drink c-c-coffee tomorrow?"

From what Tweek could see of Craig's face, he looked slightly surprised. Then he responded with a shrug and a "Sure" before he was off on his own path again.

Tweek was left alone to ponder what kind of coffee flavor he should bring tomorrow, and over the strangeness of hearing Craig's voice again after years of not hearing it properly and just about forgetting it. How strange for him, to hear it now. There wasn't much special about it, but he had at some point lost that nasal tilt to it, and instead gained a sort of deepness to it that hit guys after puberty—but skimped on horribly when it came to Tweek, sadly—and it fit Tweek's image of the badass Craig Tucker perfectly.

So he congratulated himself for a job well done and sat down again to finished his coffee in peace.

* * *

**A/N:** So this website is messing up all my centering and exclamation points on my previous works...I swear Tension isn't as good now as it was...IT SUCKS! But anyway, this is just something that popped into my head a couple days ago, so I decided to try it out xDDDDD. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning Steal My Heart, for those of your who're reading it...

And I had such a hard time making up a title for this...*sobs* I'll write more and upload HUGE chapters xDDD yay for you, not so much for me. Tell me what you think, plz! Reviews are love!


	2. Schrödinger's Cat Eats A Pretzel

I COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I typed up this so far with very much effort and tears, ALL WHILE NOT LOOKING AT IT.

Bam, bi-win. xDD Anyway, I hope you guys like what I have so far! Please excuse my grammar and spelling errors, I haven't edited this yet, sorry. Thank you so so so much for being so patient with me! I love you all!

**Disclaimer: Stiiiill don't own South Park. *sadface* yes, i know the title is weird. Hidden joke! xDDD**

* * *

**Part Two(and a half):  
_Schrödinger's Cat Eats A Pretzel_**

For the next couple of days following that weekend, Tweek continued to bring Craig coffee. It was actually a little hard for Tweek the second time. After so many times of just simply running into him, Tweek found it much more difficult to actually look and _find_ him. The second time he was wandering around the left side of the school, peering around carefully into shadows and calling out softly Craig's name, softly because if he spoke too loud, he might accidentally attract serial killers or something.

Then a heavy hand descended onto his shoulder.

After the slightly hysterical confusion of Tweek dropping to the ground like a rock and playing dead, then finding out it had only been Craig, they had sat by a wall and drunk their coffee, Tweek once again giving Craig a straw. Their conversations were non-existent, nothing much happening besides Craig keeping Tweek company in the morning. Their encounters from there went something like this:

Sit down. Slurp slurp. Silence. Slurp slurp. More silence. Slurp slurp _slth slth slth_. Craig thanked him and left. And then Tweek would sit for another ten minutes, the previous thirty having passed safely in Craig's presence. It was a nice arrangement, in Tweek's opinion. Craig got coffee, and Tweek got the satisfaction of being safe in the morning.

And it was good.

* * *

They were sitting together for the umpteenth time in the dark morning quiet, Tweek trying to quell the curious questions that fought to escape his throat. This had been a problem for him ever since the first time they had shared coffee together. But he couldn't ask too many questions; he'd lose his safeguard for the morning!

So Tweek just sipped his coffee silently, wondering what would happen if he opened his mouth. He glanced over at Craig, looking at his mask-covered profile, then down again at the thermos. He'd never thanked him for returning the green thermos so quickly. He peered over at him again, and as if Craig could feel his eyes, he turned, dark eyes piercing. Tweek resisted the urge to flinch when he saw the gleaming teeth, hiding his head from the other.

He shouldn't say anything. No sense risking his early-morning safety.

His quivering mouth betrayed him. "Th-thank you…f-for –_ngh-_ g-giving back my thermos. Um, and I'm s-sorry for…p-p-punching you in the face."

There was a pause, and Tweek risked his very precious life to peer up at the raven. Craig had one eyebrow raised, the mask on his face making the expression on his face look very demonic indeed.

"You waited four weeks to tell me that?"

Tweek flushed, looking down at the ground. He'd seen! He'd seen all of those questions just bursting to come out, had _seen_ the curiosity burning inside of him! He paled. Was Craig _psychic?_

He lunged to grab the raven by the collar, shaking him vigorously. "Dear sweet _Lord, gahh!_ C-can you read my mind _right now?_"

Craig's eyes gave him an 'are-you-serious' look and Tweek squeaked, shooting back and hiding behind his thermos. "I'm sorry!"

The raven ignored him, going back to slurping his coffee through the straw. After a moment though, came the slightly muffled response,

"S'alright. And I'm not psychic."

Tweek looked at him warily. "...y-you sure?" You never could tell with people. And how had he known the exact word Tweek had thought, 'psychic'? What if he was _lying?_

Craig gave a sort of scoff, not bothering to answer. The blond was left to worriedly mutter to himself, trying to mentally block out his thoughts, just in case Craig really did turn out to be psychic. He was happy, though; he didn't know if that had counted as a real conversation, but that had been the longest speech exchanged between them. Did that make them 'friends' now? How could one really tell?

There was a '_slth slth_' sound of a straw suckling up the last scraps of liquid, and Craig handed his thermos back to Tweek, standing with his usual low "Thanks". Tweek nodded with a tiny smile, waving lightly as Craig went on his way.

This was very nice. Craig was a good person, seeing as he hadn't beaten him up or killed him horribly or anything. Tweek even thought he was getting used to the sight of that mask. Being around it so much in the morning was definitely helping with that particular fear.

Tweek was congratulating himself with happy thoughts all the way to lunch time, sitting in his little corner nibbling happily—or as happily as he could—on his chocolate chip muffin, his lunch for today.

He wondered if Craig would keep him company during lunch time too. Then Craig wouldn't look so lonely and Tweek would have somebody to defend him if there was ever a massive terrorist strike attack. Of course, though, people would start to talk. They'd stare and whisper and mutter about the little freak and the psychotic raven. Tweek knew differently, obviously, he knew Craig was good, but no one else did. They'd make rumors. They'd push him around. No one would dare touch Craig but they wouldn't have the same problems with him.

Tweek paled and quivered as he imagined faceless beasts from his classes coming after him, tossing him around and ripping him apart. He couldn't risk that, he just couldn't! How could he so blatantly throw away his LIFE? These things would kill him; they'd come after him and _KILL _HIM! Tweek panted, holding his thermos tightly, anxiously biting his lip. Craig was strong, but there was no way he could protect him from all of those people, it was impossible.

The blond nursed his coffee in sudden fear, his muffin forgotten as he resolved to never sit with Craig at lunch.

Safe mornings were enough for him. They had to be; he couldn't risk anything else. Tweek went home that day with his mind buzzing. Just because he had made this resolution with himself, didn't mean he had to like carrying it out. If only it wasn't for those other scary people, he sighed inwardly. He'd never had anyone to sit next to him at lunchtime before.

His dad caught him by the coffee shop's store, once again grasping a warmly steaming cup of coffee. "How'd school go, kiddo?"

Tweek was about to answer with one of his repertoire of little white lies, but he stopped, thinking about the morning. He blushed lightly, toying with the rim of his thermos.

"I-I...it was o-okay. _Nghh_, I h-hung out with my f-friend in the morning."

"Good for you! Friends are the sugar to coffee; the sweeter it is, the better!"

Tweek nodded happily, then frowned. "Too m-much sugar makes the c-coffee too sweet, though."

His father shook his head, "No, no, Tweek, we're talking about friends here, not sugar or coffee."

"But y-you s—"

"It's alright, you're still young." His father patted his head gently, smiling benignly. "You'll understand when you get older, son." And with that he wandered off, leaving Tweek confused and wondering if he would ever understand his father.

* * *

Tweek passed another curious couple of days spending his mornings with Craig, and it was like they were really friends. They still didn't say much to each other, but Tweek found himself strangely preferring it. Without any reason to talk, he wouldn't embarrass himself horribly and get himself beat up or anything. He was safe. But even with that, Craig didn't leave so quickly now. Instead of going away right after he finished his coffee, he stayed for a tiny bit, lending his silent safety to the hyperactive blond. It was cause for a small smidgen of panic for Tweek; people always arrived in the twenty minutes before the first bell, and he was always scared someone would see them and start that dreaded doomed path of gossip, rumors and HORRIBLE DEATH! But no, semi-darkness and the shadows of their spots always hid them from view and no one saw.

A part of Tweek was glad anyway that Craig stayed. It really seemed as if Craig enjoyed himself too, so he was more than just a little proud of himself.

Still though, his decision about not asking Craig to lend his presence during lunch time weighed on his mind. Sitting there alone in his little spot, chewing on whatever he'd brought for the day, he felt a curious sort of sensation creep upon his chest. He thought it might be loneliness, he didn't really know. He was always so used to being alone, how could he tell what was loneliness or not? It was all so strange…But all the same, he wished people wouldn't be so brutal. If only more people were nice like Craig; he wouldn't mind bringing in more thermoses of coffee if that would help.

He was thinking about this as he settled himself into his corner during lunchtime, watching the mad shuffle of people milling around the crowded courtyard. Craig himself was lost to the crowd somewhere, and Tweek found himself unconsciously searching for him, hazel eyes scanning the place restlessly. A little company wouldn't be too bad, really...should he risk it? It wouldn't hurt to bring it up to Craig in the morning, surely...and then if he refused, Tweek would have a legitimate reason for saying it was too dangerous to risk it...

Tweek slurped more of his coffee, pondering over such subjects delicately as he watched the human mass. He wondered what he should do; his poor hair couldn't take anymore consternated pulling, he was going to end up _bald!_ ...ewww...

Suddenly a massive movement caught his eye: almost all of the students had migrated to the far side of the courtyard, pushing and shoving into each other. Tweek felt his heart flutter; was the place going to burst out in a huge riot of blood and DEATH? Were they going to kill _everyone in sight?_

Loud words started to reach his ears and Tweek strained to hear the angry tones, to understand what was happening and if he should run away to protect his precious life. Maybe he shouldn't even wait, he had to run away now! Then he suddenly thought of Craig, and he paled.

Sweet _Jesus_, where was he? What if he got stuck in that horrible DEATH RIOT? Craig was strong, he knew that, but not even he could handle a mass of bloodthirsty, raging killer cannibal beasts! Holy crap, where was he? They both had to get out!

The human mass stirred, shook and moaned in low mutters as more people's voices joined the loud words, and Tweek shivered, then froze. In the slightest gap, lasting only half a second, his sharp eyes had spotted deep midnight blue, and the profile of a masked raven standing calmly in the middle as he flipped somebody off.

SWEET MOTHER OF GOD, CRAIG WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT!

Tweek squawked in terrible shock, then yanked on his hair so hard tears popped into his eyes. Dear Lord, what could he _do?_ He couldn't leave him there, he'd _die!_ But what would happen if he went into it? He'd die too! What to do, what to _do?_ He squealed helplessly, wishing to God there was a divine intervention.

There wasn't anything divine, but suddenly everything went to hell. There was deep unified gasp from the crowd, and suddenly everyone was yelling excitedly, pushing and shoving even more until the crowd was nothing more than a rolling wave of flesh and screams, and Tweek saw a flurry of movement in the very center. There were more gaps now in the screaming mass, and now Tweek saw what was happening. He shrieked in pure horror, the noise lost in the melee. There were a bunch of people ganging up on Craig! He saw the raven trip and fall, and he screamed louder.

His only friend was going to _DIE!_

There was a smack of feet on pavement and Tweek was tripping over himself, stumbling and shrieking as he fought to reach the crowd. His twitching hands stretched out in front of him and his mind was blank, blank except for recognition of a horrible thudding in his chest and a terrifying panicked haze deeply embedded in his brain. He couldn't think, could barely breathe, only see where his friend had last been.

He smacked into the mass of people—all who were too caught up in the fight to care—wriggled, shrieked and then he was in the middle. In the middle of hell.

Tweek couldn't breathe.

All he saw were Craig's eyes, the hatred in them as he kicked and lunged, trying to get up as he landed furious blows on the two currently attacking him, even from the ground. He was scary, a dangerous, grinning demon that Tweek couldn't get away from; the crowd pushed him forward, screamed and roared in anger that he was blocking someone's view. Suddenly a third person tackled the fighting raven, and Craig's head hit the ground with a sound that Tweek was sure was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. There was a fist raised, aimed at Craig, and then the blond found himself lunging forward, screaming inarticulately. He collided with one of the first two and lashed out, heart thudding painfully in fear.

And now they turned on him, and Tweek could see the horrible MURDEROUS INTENT IN THEIR _EYES_. He shrieked as he saw their fists coming toward his face.

But the hits never connected.

Tweek had always been a spazzy, frightened, paranoid ball of nerves, always twitching, always on high alert. And now it was finally coming in handy. He dodged the incoming hits before they were even close to him, heart pounding and eyes wide in nervous, panicked alert as he saw them get angry when they couldn't hit him. One of them in particular seemed to be out for his blood, almost snorting as he lunged vengefully toward the hyperactive blond, trying to hit him with big, meaty fists. Tweek screamed, weaving and ducking as best as could while the crowd behind him howled out encouragements, eager to see the blond's face meet the ground. He couldn't back away too well, or even at all, he was trapped, and he squealed as he ducked once more, then on instinct came back up with a clenched fist, landing a surprisingly sound hit on his attacker's chin.

His hopes lifted. Yes, a hit! He almost felt like cheering when the other stumbled and tripped, falling into the depths of the crowd. The second attacker had diverted his attentions while Tweek had been busy, helping the third gang up on Craig, who was still somehow fighting back even through that nasty head-hit.

The crowd had gotten thicker somehow, rowdier, and Tweek heard their discontent at a stranger who was fighting on the wrong side, hear their mutters and yells of _hate_. His lungs seized up and all of a sudden he realized what he was doing: he had shoved himself into the middle of a war that wasn't his, and people were after his _life!_ His breath came in hyperventilating gasps and he trembled, starting to see black at the edges of his vision. He had to leave had to get out, had to escape—please no he couldn't stay—!

A garble of words, blurred by his panic, made their way to his hearing and Tweek saw Craig was in trouble, unable to get up without the other two knocking him down. Tweek saw a trickle of blood leak down his exposed throat, and the edges of the white mask-teeth were red.

Craig was dying. They were killing him.

Tweek tackled one with all the force he could muster, practically ripping him from the downed raven, his momentum sending them crashing in the middle of the horrible, bloodthirsty crowd. People scattered as they tussled, and suddenly Tweek found himself on top of...Stan Marsh?

His utter surprise made him pause and Stan snarled, kneeing him viciously in the stomach. Tweek gave a sort of strangled gasp, rolling over onto the ground as Stan lunged up, fighting through the closing crowd. Tweek gasped, curled up on a ball on the ground, shaking fitfully. He couldn't breathe, his abdomen hurt and he couldn't think, couldn't do anything...it hurt!

He rolled onto his knees, struggling on all fours as he wheezed, his gasping mouth dripping saliva onto the concrete as he withheld the urge to throw up. He couldn't describe it, this stunned, mind-numbing pain, but he had to continue. Her had gone this far, it didn't matter that they were going to kill him, he was practically dying already! Oh God, it hurt! Sweet Lord, how hard could Stan hit?

In the short time that Stan had wasted on Tweek, Craig had quickly dispatched the one left, but he was taken unaware when Stan locked him in a chokehold from behind. Craig gave off a sort of enraged squawk as he grappled with the arms locked around his neck, trying to kick behind him in an effort to break free, but to no avail.

Tweek came up behind them both, and with a squealing war cry, whapped Stan's head as hard as he could with his trusty, green and silver thermos.

He didn't even know how he still had a hold of the thing.

Stan cried out, loosening his hold and Craig took instant advantage of that, grabbing his arm and flipping the other over his shoulder straight into an administrator who had just fought his way into the crowd.

Then everything went to hell again.

Tweek only had time enough to lock eyes with Craig, the raven's showing a kind of dull surprise and reluctant thankfulness, and then the blond was grabbed by the shoulder; he shrieked. Administrators seemed to burst forth and forward through the crowd, and everyone scattered, fleeing like mice before the talons of a cat. There was a lot of shouting, and the man who'd grabbed him was yelling something at him.

There was only so much Tweek's panicked mind could handle, and he was rapidly approaching that limit now. Everywhere he looked, there was madness, sheer madness and now he was being surrounded by people who loomed above him, dangerous and evil. He hurt, he felt sick, and his ears felt like they were being ravaged by the sounds of a jet engine. The blond looked around, scared and terrified beyond belief, and looked at Craig. They were leading him away, taking him someplace else, somewhere different.

Craig was leaving Tweek alone, defenseless...he couldn't, wouldn't be around to save him. Tweek was alone. Alone.

A little something snapped in him.

"_Nooo!_ N-no, let go, stop -_ngh-argh_, let m-me _go!_" Tweek started to struggled, to fight, and the grip on his arm got more painful, like a vise clamped around his flesh. It hurt, it hurt...the noise kept getting louder, more rougher and then Tweek couldn't handle it anymore; he screamed, whirling away so fast the clenching nails left three bleeding marks on his arm, and swung his hand around, his thermos smacking squarely on the administrator's face.

And then he was pinned to the ground somehow, a heavy weight on his back. Tweek couldn't breathe, tears of pure fright leaking from his eyes, sobs trapped in his throat.

He fainted.

* * *

So it turned out that the senior who had confronted Craig—and subsequently gotten his ass whooped—had been part of the football team, and prideful testosterone-driven beasts that they were, they had to make a lesson out of Craig. Which called for three of them—including Stan Marsh—to gang up on Craig.

And thanks to the efforts of one spastic Tweek Tweak, that lesson had failed miserably.

He felt proud, somewhat.

After waking up, still on the courtyard ground seeing as the administrators hadn't even bothered taking him to the clinic, he was dragged to the counselor's office, then the principal's office, where both of them _and_ the deputy could chew him out. They called his parents too, and soon there were there, yelling at him as well.

Tweek was embarrassed. He couldn't remember the last time he had freaked out like that. He usually kept himself well away from both people and situations that could stress him out; it had been years since he'd acted like that. He could feel the shameful flush on his cheeks as he stared down at his shoes, twisting his fingers in the hem of his shirt as he was lectured.

He was just really embarrassed...Tweek shuddered at the sure stares and glares he would receive if he stepped into any of his classes. Literally _everyone_ had been out there, everybody had _seen!_ He had never wanted to skip school as badly as he did then.

He didn't skip school, but he got the next 'best' thing.

It was his first offense for fighting, so in any other situation he would have gotten off with two day's suspension. But he had resisted authority _and_ smacked an administrator in the face! Who had also turned out to be the assistant dean...Tweek landed himself a nice seven day vacation from school.

Craig got his usual four days. Stan and the others got two. It didn't seen very fair to the blond, but he didn't fight it. If he got into any more trouble, he'd be expelled or something! Then he'd be labeled a nasty troublemaker and no college would ever accept him so he'd fall in with a group of crazy, fanatic terrorists and get himself shot! Or BLOWN INTO TINY MEATY PIECES OF _DOG KIBBLE!_

Perish the thought...

As Tweek was being driven home by less-than-pleased parents, he had some very miserable thoughts. He was a rebel now, he supposed. A dirty troublemaker, a punk. He'd have to wear black for the rest of his life and sneer at little kids and kick kittens and get horrible grades for the rest of his life and smoke those deadly _cancer sticks!_ ...oh well, he comforted himself. At least he could still drink coffee...but with no sugar in it. He paled. No sugar? Drink his precious coffee without the sweet taste of sugary goodness mixed in? No! He couldn't do that, blasphemy! He couldn't be a punk! _NOOOOO!_

The minute they got home Tweek tore up into his room, pouring coffee into his thermos with shaky hands and loading as much sugar into it as he could without choking on the grains as the gloopy concoction slid down his throat.

His father came up to his room a couple minutes later, once again holding that usual cup of coffee, steam rising from the curved rim. He bid Tweek to sit with him on the bed, sighing as he himself did so.

"Son, your mother and I were talking, and we were trying to decide on your punishment for fighting."

Tweek paled, hugging his most favorite thermos close. His dad laughed a little, patting his back. "No, no, we won't take away your coffee; no need to have you passing out again, right?"

Tweek nodded hurriedly, eager to prove the fact that they most assuredly should not take away his very precious coffee. His father made an assenting noise and went on, taking a sip from his perpetually-full cup. God, how did he do that? "And you're the delicious scent that never leaves coffee dreams, so we can't exactly ground you..."

The blond thought that possibly his father might be trying to say they couldn't ground him because he never went anywhere...but he wasn't entirely certain. "Um...o-okay?"

"Yes...so just promise me, son. No more fights." His father looked at him sternly. And Tweek nodded rapidly, his normal twitching spreading to fearful shivers as he remembered the panic he had felt.

"_Ngh,_ n-no, no more fights...i-it was -_erghh-_ r-r-really scary!" Tweek shuddered, then looked up hastily. "B-but what if someone I-I—_gah!_ K-know is in trouble? What if they're about to _die?_"

"Then you just be the shot of espresso to a raspberry-vanilla coffee mix, alright?" His dad smiled at him and stood up, patting him on the back again. "Alright, Tweek, good talk. You take it easy now."

He left and Tweek was left to ponder out a metaphor that made no sense to him would would probably never be understood by rational minds. He tried to think about it, but only got a dizzying headache in return for his troubles. What had that even _meant__?_ Tweek could only let it go and think that maybe one day he'd be smart—or insane—enough to really understand even a fraction of what his father really meant.

Tweek sighed, gulping down the rest of his sugary coffee and bracing himself for a long seven days and a weekend of utter, complete boredom.

* * *

Tweek rolled around in bed, a book in one hand as he flopped onto his belly, suckling gently on a straw stuck in the coffee-filled thermos he held in his other hand.

'_Here sighs and cries and wails coiled and recoiled on the starless air, spilling my soul to tears. A confusion of tongues and monstrous accents toiled in pain __and anger. Voices hoarse and shrill and sounds of blows..._'

The blond sighed to himself, slurping moodily on his liquid treat. It was only day two of his 'vacation' and here he was, reduced to re-reading Alighieri's imagery of the place of the damned. Hell—hahaha—he'd even brave school and his classmate's piercing hateful glares instead of this deadly boredom.. He'd gotten bored of his laptop and internet at three in the morning today, and there was nothing good on television. And now both of his parents had gone to man the coffee shop.

Tweek sighed, rolling onto his back and miraculously not spilling a drop from the green and silver thermos. (It was the coffee ninja skills.) In truth, he was kind of missing Craig, or at the very least his company. He'd never had a friend, like a _real_ friend, so it had been the highlight of his fearful days to sit in comfortable companionship and actually feel _safe_ for once somewhere besides his room. He felt a prickling sensation in his chest and he frowned, concentrating on it. Could it be...dare he say it...was he _lonely_?

Well, they did say that once you took a bite out of that cake...it was hard to go back. Could that be it? Was he..._lonely_? Did he now, after so many years avoiding human company, finally yearn it?

Tweek rolled onto his stomach again, staring at the swirls in his coffee-colored rug. How strange, he mused, watching little monkey ninjas bounce to and fro on his laptop's screensaver screen. A noise caught his attention and he sat up, eager for anything to break his boredom. It was the doorbell. He sighed. His parents really needed a tracking device for their keys, he thought in slight disappointment as he tried to summon energy enough to stand. They kept losing them too much...although now that he thought about it, he had thought these very thought once before and it had turned out to be Craig instead...the image of the grinning mask invaded his thoughts and he shivered, his hands making the thermos in his grip shake and tremble. No, he was over that fear, the mask was only a mask, nothing more...besides, it didn't matter; Craig wasn't behind that door, he was off enjoying his 'vacation' like cool rebels did. Tweek jumped off his bed, going downstairs to the front door.

He tried to dismiss the anxious feeling prickling in his mind. Of course Craig wouldn't be there, there was no way...his hand curled around the doorknob...not unless he was psychic ad had _known_ he was thinking of his company and the loneliness! But no, surely no...

Tweek pushed those thoughts out of his mind and unlocked the door, carefully opening it. And the piercing blue eyes of Craig Tucker froze him in place.

_Dear sweet baby Jesus, he really __is__ psychic!_

Tweek shrieked, jumping into the living room and actually leaping headfirst over a couch there to hide behind it. He peeked his tousled head over the top, screeching accusingly at the raven peering bemusedly into the house.

"_Psychic! Gah, _I-I _knew_ you were psychic! I knew it! _Stop reading my mind!_"

Craig looked at him, a deadpan expression on his face. He rolled his eyes, flipping him off carelessly and stepping inside, closing the door behind him. "I'm not psychic."

"_LIES!_" Tweek squealed, pointed an accusing finger. "W-why else are y-you -_ngh-_ h-here?"

"Bored." The raven came toward the living room, standing in the middle like the owner of the friggin' universe. Tweek fixed the other's chest with a wary look, unwilling to meet those sharp eyes. From here he could see a green and blue bruise on the raven's right cheek, and a small bandage curling over the side of his forehead. Trophy remnants of his fight three days past. Tweek himself only had a blotchy melon-sized bruise where Stan had kneed him and those three scratches on his arm. Okay, well, Craig couldn't be psychic; psychics didn't bleed or get hurt, right?

No,wait, that was immortals...

Either way! Craig was purely human, so Tweek believed...for now. Tweek peeked up a little more, standing u-p slightly behind the couch. Now that he wasn't spazzing out about the idea of Craig being a mind-reading psychic, he was feeling more than a little embarrassed. Craig just came here, with no apparent inclination to BRUTALLY MURDER him, and Tweek had been acting like a complete paranoid idiot. How humiliating...

He stood up fully, his face red from embarrassment and his twittery twitching a little more erratic than normal. Tweek skipped out from behind the couch, mumbling squeakily. "U-um...so, w-would you -_ngh- _like to sit down?...please? Do you w-w-want some -_erk-_ c-coffee?"

Craig rolled his eyes, again, and remained exactly where he was, lazily relaxed and seeming for all the world as if he could care less that Tweek was being the craziest spaz in the universe. He shrugged absently, eyes still scanning the room around him. "Little late for all that polite crap..."

Tweek squeaked, eyes darting around nervously. "I-I guess so..." There was more silence, and he fidgeted, unsure of what to do. What did Craig want? He didn't want to sit down, or have coffee apparently…and they were all alone! What if Craig randomly went crazy and RIPPED HIM LIMB FROM LIMB?

He almost died thinking of all that blood…

He squirmed and twitched some more, too afraid to meet Craig's eye. Out of ABSOLUTLY NOWHERE, Craig started speaking.

"Thanks.'

And that was it. Just that one word. But Tweek was sufficiently wound up by this point that he suffered a mini panic attack just hearing it; he leapt behind the couch again, shrieking. A moment passed before reason smacked him in the face and he peeked over the top again, face beet-red in embarrassment once more.

"U-um…_ngh_, f-for what?"

Craig was silent for a second, and Tweek halfway hid behind the couch again, afraid of horrible, painful dismemberment, but then that low voice came again. "The fight. Thanks for the help." He shrugged, and then gave a little reluctant grumble. "Didn't do much…but you helped."

Tweek blinked in surprise; he certainly hadn't been expecting a thank you. Wow…how surprising! He flushed as he looked up and met Craig's eyes, twisting his thermos as between his hands. "Oh. A-ah, y-you're welcome…"

"Mmm." The raven made a sort of assenting noise, and silence fell over them again, making Tweek twitch behind the couch. Then all of a sudden, razor sharp blue eyes were looking his way, piercing him in place. "You wanna go to my house?"

Tweek stilled, then gave a massive twitch, the muscles of his body doing a queer little wave-thing. "WHAT?"

A deadpan expression met his as Craig shrugged again. "Bored as hell. Come on, don't be a spaz, I got games and stuff."

The twitchy blond squeaked, dropping down to hide behind the couch again. Rocking back and forth on his butt, he bit his fingernails anxiously, dozens of contradicting thoughts running through his mind.

What had just happened? Craig, good guy and wearer of evil-things, had just invited him over to his house…to play games! WHAT KIND OF SICK, DEMEMNTED GAMES WAS HE TALKING ABOUT? Tweek stifled a shriek, images of disturbing games of Chutes 'n Ladders and Battleship flooding his mind. Damn that sinking battleship…

But there had to be a reason Craig had decided to invite him. Just because of boredom? It could be, he was on 'vacation' from school as well…then why come to Tweek?

_'Cuz I'm his friend?_

Could be, could be, a little part of him nodded…that was a possibility. After all, it was just to play some videogames, right? Craig wouldn't have much reason to lie to him. He hadn't even attacked him yet, even though they were all alone in the house and no one would be able to hear his bloodcurdling screams of pain and UTTER AGONY as he was ripped to shreds. Craig was a good guy…But then what if it was all a ploy to lull him into a false sense of security?

_How?_

By pretending to be nice, of course! Tweek squeaked, his inner debate heating up a little. Craig could just be biding his time, like one of those spiders who waited in holes and jumped out to mercilessly murder unsuspecting insects! Besides, didn't he already know that going to a stranger's house was how young, innocent virgin children like him got _raped and kidnapped?_

_…but Craig's not a stranger._

Yes he is. He very damn well is.

Tweek squealed in undecided agony, yanking on his hair with his eyes closed. What should he do, what should he _doooo_?

Opening his eyes, he saw Craig leaning over the top of the couch, staring down at him with a slightly bored expression.

"You done?"

The blond shrieked, jerking away instinctively and only succeeding in smacking into the wall, four inches in front of him. He reeled back, a little woozy and clutching the front of his nose in horror. Oh my God, what if he broke it and _BLED TO DEATH?_ Nooooo!

Craig did nothing, continuing to look down at him as his middle finger came up, flipping Tweek off. "Chill."

The single word made Tweek flush in pure embarrassment, and he looked down to the floor, regretting the fact that he was such a spaz. Here he was, crouching behind—lo behold—a couch, fearing the invitation of pretty much the only friend he had at this point in time. How many people did he know who would even hide behind a couch in general? Normal people, anyway.

He let go of his nose, thankfully not finding any blood or anything on his hands, and twisted his fingers in his shirt, shyly peering up. "U-um…w-why –_ngh-_ me?"

The raven was silent for a moment, but this time the silence was deeper, darker. They locked eyes, and then Craig drew back, getting off the couch and walking away, but not before Tweek had seen the painful message in the depths of dark dark blue.

'_Who else d__o I have to ask?'_

Right…Craig was alone, wasn't he? Like the time that Tweek had seen him sitting alone in the cafeteria with no one else by his side; he didn't have anybody to hang out with. As much as people were afraid of him, with all the rumors going on about him, no one could bring themselves to be with him. And as Tweek thought about it, that had to be a very lonely existence. Lonely…

Like maybe Tweek himself was a bit lonely?

Tweek bit his lip, a big puddle of guilt nestling in his chest. Damn, he hadn't thought of any of that. The fact that Craig was asking him to go over to his house should be a good thing, not something he should be spazzing out on. He made up his mind, jumping out behind the couch hurriedly, calling out to the raven, who was already by this point near the front door.

"C-Craig, wait, I-I'll go, I w-wann—_whoa-arghhh!_" His foot caught on the top edge of the couch, making him trip and sending him forward to tumble and crash face-first on the ground. His ungainly squeal was interrupted by his face-plant, and pain flared red and white behind Tweek's eyes.

_Owww…_

Stunned, Tweek lay dizzy on the floor for a second, twitching. Well. That hadn't worked out so well. He could only hope that Craig wasn't laughing at him. Or maybe he had just left. Hmm, that would suck, seeing as he had just gotten injured trying to accept his offer.

Wait…injured?

…

OH MY GOD HE WAS BLEEDING TO DEATH, HE HAD CRACKED OPEN HIS HEAD AND SPILLED HIS BRAINS, HE WAS GONNA _DIEEEE!_

Tweek screamed with a lusty passion, scrambling around on the ground and clutching his face like a rabid squirrel. My God, how much blood had he lost, what if his eyeballs fell out or his brains? What if they were _SCRAMBLED LIKE FRICKEN EGGS!_

A strong hand dropped onto his shoulder and Tweek shrieked louder, jolting back and running into the couch with his head. Ow. Now curled up on the floor on his knees, the blond was very seriously considering the practicality of _seppuku_¸ or at the very least enough caffeine to drown out any pain. A pair of hands lay on his own, trying to pull them from the depths of the golden hair they were tangled into, and Tweek twitched violently, looking up with teary eyes, blurred by a throbbing pain.

A grinning death mask met his eyes and he gave another involuntary twitch, resisting the urge to shriek with the last reserves of his self-control. His eyes travelled up farther and met blue irises, and then felt Craig's fingers push back his tangled blond hair to get a look at his face. Tweek looked at him in surprise, shocked to see not a single ounce of sadistic joy or laughter in his face—or what he could see of it anyway—as he expected from pretty much all of the populace had they seen his epic fail.

Craig's eyes traced his face like lasers, seeing everything, it seemed to Tweek, and then he gave a sort of uninterested-yet-still-slightly-concerned noise, letting go of his cheeks. "You're fine."

The short words had Tweek starting, then feeling his skin, checking himself for any bloody rips or huge gaping wounds of horrible size. "Y-you sure? I'm not –_nghh-_ bleeding to death?"

Craig rolled his eyes, flipping him off with the light attitude of someone who was only trying to be reassuring. Well, at least that's the way it seemed like to Tweek. And if that was the way Craig wanted to be reassuring, well then Tweek supposed it was better than a punch in the face.

"So, you still coming?"

Tweek nodded quickly at the question, finally accepting that maybe his face really was fine and he wasn't suffering from any internal cerebral hemorrhaging. Although, if it was really internal, how would he even KNOW?

He decided to leave that question for later and hope he didn't drop dead suddenly on the sidewalk on the way to Craig's house.

The raven stood up and helped Tweek up; the hand he extended was gratefully accepted after a short inspection to make sure it didn't conceal some sort of hidden ninja blade. (You never knew.) Tweek was somewhat flattered and relieved that Craig had even come back to check on him, not to mention he had helped him up. See, brain, he thought smugly, Craig really is a friend. We can trust the guy, right?

His mind chose that exact moment to ignore him and not answer.

Craig had just turned back to the door to lead them both out when Tweek shrieked.

"W-wait!"

* * *

**A/N:** So that's all I have typed up so far *tears* B-but, i tried really really hard to do this for all of my fans...*sobs horribly* There's like twenty fucking days left until Easter! Whyyyyyyyy! WHYYYYY?

*sniffles* Anyway...you'll get the next ten pages later. Yes, this is only ten pages of my original plan for twenty. I'll repost the chap, k? I'm so glad there were so many supportive responses to my Lent yaoi fast! My readers are so supportive of me...I nearly cried, I swear. I want to thank all of you, so so so much, you guys are amazing! I thought a lot of people were gonna flame me or something, but no! *tears* I wanna give you hugs and cupcakes, all of you...

Oh, and to the anonymous Frankieby, who reviewed on my Lent message on SMH with the lovely "_Fail. Give up something that actually matters next year. Because not looking at gay people for a while is the perfect way to prove your undying faith! Also, this chapter is not allowed on the site. Remove it, or risk being banned. Put this thing on your profile or whatever_."

Yeah, I don't mind the last part, about the forbidden chap, but next time, leave a review with an actual profile link. Then I can chew you out personally. Oh, and just because you're a homophobic bastard doesn't mean you gotta put your shit on me. Go eat a pretzel and suck a Pikachu. Douche.

Anyone else wanna take a hit at 'im?

All the rest of you, I love you!


	3. Schrödinger's Cat Does Not Eat A Pretzel

I'm about to take my AP Biology exam, I don't have much time so wish me luck, and I'm looking for a beta! Anyone interested? SOmeone who'es read some of my stories and knows my style, plz!

**Disclaimer: Stiiiill don't own South Park. *sadface* **

* * *

**Part Two(and the other half):  
_Schrödinger's Cat Does Not Eat A Pretzel_**

Craig turned back, heaving a sigh of exasperation, but Tweek was already rushing past him into the kitchen, frantically searching for a pen and paper. It had occurred to him that while he wasn't grounded, that had only happened because he never went anywhere, but now that he was going somewhere, would he be allowed to go? What of his parents found out and literally _flayed the skin off of his back?_

Tweek shuddered violently. Scattering the pens he had found in a kitchen drawer. "_Ngh_, d-dammit…n-need a pen…" Finally his trembling fingers closed around the thin, cylindrical shape and he crowed in relief, holding it up like a game character with a new item.

"_Ahem_."

Tweek squealed, hugging the pen to his chest as he whirled around to see Craig raising an eyebrow at him. The blonde gave a slight scowl at the idea of anyone making the classic pose of acquisition—what, he's never played Legend of Zelda before?—and turned once again to the mission at hand, which was the finding of paper.

He couldn't _not_ go to Craig's house anymore, 'cuz he already said he would and Craig would be lonely if he didn't, or just might get angry and rip out his jaw. Which he quite liked where it was. And Tweek would much rather face the wrath of his parents than the raging demonic violence Craig was certainly capable of.

He still remembered the half mad look in the other's eyes during the fight.

Tweek grabbed a notepad from the depths of the abyss known as the third drawer, and flipped to a clean page, trying to calm his twitching as he scribbled down a note to his parent.

'_Dear Mom and Dad; I went over to play games at Craig's house. Be back later._' He thought a moment, then added,

'_P.S. Watch out for the underwear gnomes! They raid the house when I'm not there.'_

The blond ripped out the paper and stuck it to the refrigerator door with a cute green coffee cup-shaped magnet. Only when he was sure it lined up at a proper 81.7 degree tangent in relation to the door—to prevent ninjas from stealing it, duh (Ninjas hated the number 817, as Tweek very well knew) —did he then turn to Craig, looking at him as if to say, '_Ready now_'.

Craig cocked an eyebrow at him lazily, pointing to his hand. Tweek twitched, confused. The raven sighed and said, "Your thermos?"

Tweek paled. "_Sweet baby Jesus on a stick!_ (Horrible imagery, xD) _Gahhhh!_" And with that lovely terrified shriek lingering in the air, he darted off to his room, where he had left his precious green and silver thermos.

The other rolled his eyes at the hyper-active blond, who bounced his way down the stairs with his—newly-filled—thermos held in ready hands, and then they were off through the front door, right after Tweek had made sure the front door was locked and totally secure. It might not stop those pesky gnomes—they had secret tunnels EVERYWHERE and he couldn't block them all, dammit—but it might stop any crazy thieves who'd go into his room and steal his awesome GOD-GIVEN COFFEEMAKER!

The sheer _horror._

Their trip was short, but with every step Tweek felt his resolve crumble, and his twitching sped up until he was shaking like crazy as Craig's house neared their vision. What had he been thinking? How could he have possibly agreed to this? Craig probably really _was_ a psychotic killer who was trying to lure him in by playing nice! He'd get him into his house and down his basement and then strap him to a crazy torture device to RIP OUT HIS INTERNAL ORGANS! And then he'd _rape_ him!

I told you! His inner voice cried. How could you fall for it? What're you gonna do?

_I don't know, I don't wanna do this anymore!_ Tweek wailed internally.

It's too bad! You'll just have to face getting raped by an insane killer…

_NO! I don't wanna lose my virginity to a guy in a mask!_

…what does a mask matter?

_It just does! It's like getting raped by Jason…or Batman! Argh!_

"Hey!"

"Arghhhh!" Tweek screamed, jumping a foot in the air. Craig gave him a strange look, dark hooded eyes making his mask-grin seem almost disappointed as he held open the front door; the blond noticed they were now standing up on the front steps. When did that happen?

"You gonna come in or not?"

Tweek twitched nervously, looking at the open door. What if Craig really _did_ rape him? Oh god, he really didn't want that but what if he was wrong? What if he got Craig angry instead? He found himself shuffling forward, slowly until he stood far enough inside that the raven could close the door.

Tweek's wide eyes looked around. What kind of horrible, depressing torturer's house was he _in?_ He looked around some more, and blinked in surprise. Craig's house looked pretty normal: regular bland living room, little pictures on the walls, which were painted a light yellow. In fact, it followed the same layout as his own house, as did most of the other houses in South Park. Not much to see, not much to be scared of. It looked…pretty much like a normal, safe house.

_Don't let your guard down…_ his inner ninja muttered, glancing suspiciously around corners. _Charles Manson looked innocent too…and look what he did!_

A woman came out from the kitchen, scowling as she saw Craig. Twek jumped as her baleful eyes landed on the both of them.

"Hey, mom." Craig said uninterestedly.

"Don't you 'hey mom' me! Where the hell were you! I told you, you were grounded!" She glared at her son, hands on her hips and fire blazing from her eyes. Tweek could hear the endless echo behind her voice, going '_gonna die, gonna die, gonna die, gonna die…'_

Tweek quailed in horror.

Craig rolled his eyes, a scoff coming from the area of his mask. His mother continued on her tirade. "And who the hell is this kid? You better not expect me to cook for his ass too! Look at 'im shaking; what is he, on crack?"

"Don't be stupid." Tweek stared wide-eyed at Craig's words, aghast that he would be tempting death this way. Did he _want_ to die? Tweek was there too; did he have no consideration for the life OF THE PERSON NEXT TO HIM? "He's fine." He turned to Tweek, who was staring at the both of them in terror. "Room's upstairs. Last one on the right. I'm gonna get some food." And with that he strolled lazily into the kitchen, returning his mother's middle-fingered salute with one of his own and leaving Tweek at the mercy of his crazy, angry mother.

Tweek quivered as blue eyes turned to him. _I don't wanna diiiiie….._

She sighed. "So, what's your name, kid?"

He jerked, holding his thermos close like a shield. "T-Tweek Tweak, _ngh!_" He squeaked.

Her eyes scanned him up and down, but she didn't seem so angry or anything anymore. More like mildly surprised. "Huh. I think I remember you…when you were a little brat. The kid with the coffee, right?" Tweek nodded hurriedly. "Hmm…I know your parents." She pursed her lips. "…it's been a long while since Craig's brought a friend over…maybe it means he's getting better."

She muttered the last part lowly, and Tweek looked at her curiously, barely catching it. Better? What did that mean…'better'?

Could it have anything to do with…the mask?

She turned, waving it off. "Well you heard the boy; his room's up there. And you brats better not be too damn loud!" Then she strode into an adjacent hallway, flipping Tweek off as she left. An elegant goodbye.

The blond blinked after her stupidly, wondering what exactly had just gone on here. So…she wasn't so bad of a person then…? Argh, why were parents so confusing?

He glanced over at Craig, who was still raiding deep into the depths of the pantry with the single-minded-ness of a lion chewing on an antelope's skull-eww-and then turned toward the stairs, leading off into an unknown world of possibly _pain_ and _torture._

Ascending the stairs carefully, Tweek peeked around anxiously. The next level didn't seem too threatening, in fact, it looked just as harmless as the first level. Hmm, okay, maybe Craig _wasn't_ going to steal his liver and use it in cloning experiments to use in the black market. Maybe Craig really did just want to hang out, maybe he was...just a normal guy.

Of course, Tweek reminded himself, he still had to see Craig's room. It could still be a horrible torture room! It wasn't likely..._but you never knew!_ He tiptoed across the floor, wary eyes fixed on the last door on the right. His hand stretched towards the door knob, timidly turning it; he peered in as the door opened.

It was...a room. A bedroom. Tweek stepped in hesitantly, looking around. The room was a light sea-green, and a deep, plushy smoke-grey carpet snuggled against his shoes, impeded slightly by the various articles of clothing and messy food wrappers that lay on it. There were posters all over the walls, of various video games and movies, while a large dartboard claimed the space on a wall the headboard of the bed rested on, which was covered in comforters of varying hues of blue, and its own set of decorative clothing. To his left, opposite the bed, was a set of drawers and a table that held a flat screen T.V. and a whole bunch of game cases, along with a PS3. And above that T.V. was a set of three Japanese swords, _ninja_ swords, hooked onto a mount in the wall. Tweek felt his jaw drop.

This room was awesome! He stepped closer, ignoring the slight mess on the floor and approaching the ninja swords on the wall. Were those real? Could it be that Craig was really..._a ninja in disguise?_

Tweek gasped. Dear God, it all made sense now! The silence of his personality, his fighting skills, the swords, the _mask!_ Craig was really A PERUVIAN NINJA HIDING AMONGST THE COMMON PUBLIC!

The door suddenly swung open more and Tweek shrieked, jumping back.

Craig walked through the doorway, holding two cokes and a bunch of bags of junk food. He gave the blond a skeptical look, which only deepened when Tweek demanded eagerly, "Are y-you a _ninja?_"

Craig stared at him before saying in the most serious voice, "Yes. I am a ninja."

Tweek narrowed his eyes, wary of any impostors. You never knew where they were... "There's o-only -_ngh-_ o-one way to find out." He beckoned Craig closer with a twitch of his finger; the raven raised an eyebrow in puzzlement but leaned forward anyway, and Tweek bent closer, whispering into the other's ear.

"_8-1-7_"

Craig drew back , baffled. "What?"

The blond looked at him up and down, taking in the fact that Craig wasn't jumping back in fear or anger, or trying to _ninja-sword him to death!_ He looked at him disappointedly, shaking his head slowly. "You're -_ngh-_ n-not a ninja."

"Only the most powerful of ninjas can overcome the power of 817." Came the deadpan response.

Tweek nearly had a heart attack, gasping and looking at the raven in wonder. "You a-are a ninja!"

"Yes." Craig handed him a coke and a bag of spicy-sweet Doritos, and pushed off the scattering of clothing on the bed to the floor, tossing the food bags onto the blue sheets. Then he dropped to the floor, sitting down heavily with his back to the wall, and slipped off his hat and midnight blue hoodie.

Tweek stared at him blatantly. He'd never seen the infamous Craig Tucker without his hat and hoodie before. His night black hair was a little longer than he'd expected, coming down right below his ears, and Tweek could see where the edges of the evil-grinning mask hooked over them, tied together behind his head. It was startling to see that; suddenly Tweek could actually see it as just a mask, and only a mask. A scary one to be sure, but the edges proved it wasn't Craig himself, it wasn't some sort of demon or anything. It was just...a little piece of cloth.

Tweek was still a bit freaked out by it, though.

Craig was wearing a charcoal grey shirt with a spreading white and black design on it, something normal and undemonic; Tweek saw the leanness of muscle on his body, something that had only been hinted at under the depths of the blue hoodie and gave a bit of sense as to how Craig could punch somebody so well. Seeing him like this, so at-ease, so..._human_, Tweek found it hard to believe he could be so ostracized by the kids at school.

Now if only that mask could come off, then Tweek could see the true face of Craig Tucker.

He almost expected it to come off. After all, they weren't in school anymore, they were away from prying eyes; whatever reason he wore it, in the safety of his room Craig could certainly take it off, right? Tweek's curiosity was bouncing in eager giddiness inside of him, even when his mind cowered in expectant fear.

_He might not even be human...what if he's secretly an alien who killed off the real Craig and wore his skin like some sort of FREAKY DRESS-UP?_

Phht, another part of him scoffed. Craig's a ninja. And everyone knows ninjas can kick alien butt any time of day.

_Unless he was taken by surprise..._

Ninjas aren't taken by surprise; they're ninjas!

_HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW HE'S A REAL NINJA?...he could be faking and then try and drug you so he can feed you to the demon alien king he has chained up in his basement!_

...

"You done yet?"

The brusque tone of Craig's muffled deep voice cut through Tweek's trawling thoughts and he squeaked, hiding behind his thermos as he realized the raven was returning his stare with a look slightly more pissed off than your average newly-woken bear. "S-sorry!"

Craig rolled his eyes and grabbed a remote from the floor, flipping on the television and changing it to the Video 1 input. Then he kneeled up and went to where the game cases were, flaring them out in a fan shape. His tone was still a bit angry. "Pick one."

"U-um...uh..." Tweek drew a little closer to look at them. There were a couple of racing games, but mainly a whole bunch of action/fantasy games. He bit his lip anxiously, wondering which one he should chose. Oh God, what if this was some sort of test, and he was supposed to pick a certain one or else Craig would get angry and rip out his throat? Or _throw him out of the house?_ Sweet Lord, it was too much pressure! Tweek's fingers hesitantly went out, nervously poking at a blood red and crusted brown cover, just one that happened to catch his attention. "Th-that one."

Craig pulled it out, looking at it. "_Dead Space 3_. Cool." He put the disk in the game console and tossed a controller over to Tweek, who shrieked and didn't catch it due to the tight grip he had on his thermos.

The other gave something like an affectionate exasperated sigh, like he was weary of his antics but put up with them anyway because he surely had the patience of a _saint_, and motioned for Tweek to sit down on the floor or bed, his preference. Tweek sat down on the floor—it helped put a sense of camaraderie (sort of) between them—and put his thermos between his knees, gripping the controller in trembling hands. His fingers clenched and unclenched a bit, trying to get a feel for the molded plastic in his hands; it wasn't normally that Tweek played any kind of videogames.

He glanced over at Craig, who was still exuding waves of slight irritability. Tweek didn't understand why Craig had suddenly turned so angry. Was it something he did? Maybe he'd stared too much. Was that it? ...possibly. Maybe Craig didn't like people staring at him...but Tweek hadn't meant anything by it. Tweek resolved not to stare at him so much anymore; he didn't want Craig stealing his face or anything. Ninjas, especially if they were aliens, could do that.

"_Dead Space 3_ is a one-player game, so you play for a while and I'll take over once you die."

The words had Tweek shrieking, dropping his controller as he jerked. He turned to Craig hurriedly. "D-d-_die?_"

Craig flipped him off, gesturing to the T.V., which was now flashing the Dead Space logo and menu options. "The game."

"O-oh..." Tweek picked up the controller again, feeling very stupid. The game...of course the game! Phht, like Craig would randomly get bored and snap his neck just so he could play...that would never happen, right? Oh God, _right?_ Tweek stifled a whimper, eyes flickering between Craig and the game screen. The raven caught his eye and pointed to the T.V., prompting Tweek to quickly turn his attention to it and go through the menu.

As he was setting up a new save profile, Tweek's mind couldn't help but wander back to the subject of his new companion for today. This was the longest he'd ever heard Craig talk, or had his attention. Of course, this was also the longest he'd actually been around him, so maybe it wasn't so surprising when he thought about their time together today...

And his family! How strange...Tweek wondered if Craig and his mother were always like that. She hadn't seemed so mean at the end, just kinda like she had a rough outside, almost like Craig himself. Ooh, maybe Craig got his rebel-kickassness from his family! Like some sort of hidden ninja middle-finger-flipping art of TOTAL REBELNESS passed down through the family. Tweek vaguely remembered that Craig had a sister or something as part of his family, besides his father. Did she have it too? _Was she also a ninja?_

The screen changed to a dark black, beginning a flashback that would give you just the tiniest scrap of information about your purpose in the game...and of the danger that awaited you. The 'skip' button flashed but Tweek didn't press it, a dreading feeling settling in the depths of his stomach. In all of his thoughts and spaz moments, he hadn't taken the time to actually read the back of the game cover, or even ask Craig what the game was about. And all of these shadowy scenes and creepy spaceships was kind of freaking him out...what kind of game had he chosen?

All of a sudden Tweek was in a seemingly empty hallway of a deserted spaceship, separated from his meager number of teammates with no idea what to do—he hadn't been paying too much attention to the flashback thing, dammit—and all his character had in its hands was a gun and a crappy flashlight that didn't illuminate too much in the pitch-lack of his surroundings. The blond squeaked weakly, looking at Craig for guidance. Dear Lord in heaven, what was he supposed to _do?_

The masked raven only nodded his head, indicating his move forward. Was it Tweek imagination, or did the other seem to be...enjoying himself? Tweek shook his head of such thoughts, turning his attention back to the game. Okay, games like this always had an endplot; he might not know it now, but if he just kept moving forward, eventually things would start to happen, right? Tweek gulped audibly. There were noises coming from the television, noises all around him as his character walked forward slowly in the gloom, Tweek's hands on the controller making the flashlight shine around. After a moment of picking up ammo from boxes, the soft creaking noises were starting to make Tweek sweat and his heart beat faster, that dread widening deeper in him. Those noises were creeping him out, but they had to mean something, right? They could warn him! Tweek took a couple of seconds to crawl forward and try to turn up the volume.

Which meant he was in exactly the worst spot to be when there was a shrieking roar and he was attacked.

Tweek screamed, inches away from the screen as he shot back, tossing the controller in the air and simultaneously jumping onto the nearest warm body for safety (which in this case meant Craig, although he didn't really take in that fact right at that moment) and then shrieked again when his character was horribly ripped apart by some huge mutant _thing_.

"_OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod..._" Tweek stared in horror at the screen, tightening his grip on whatever he had grabbed for safety. After a moment his heart rate slowed a bit and he sighed in relief at his own safety, stroking his comfort pillow soothingly. And then he noticed that his comfort pillow wasn't really a pillow, and it was really very warm.

He froze, wide eyes looking up to Craig's impassive face.

Oops.

For the third time today he screamed his lungs out, almost backflipping in some sort of amazing dexterity away from the stoic raven. He wasn't really aware of the awesomeness, however, as he curled into a ball, holding his thermos in front of his head to protect himself from the _horrible wrath that was the badass Craig TUCKER._

_Frickin' Christ, I've attracted his ninja rage! He'd gonna rip me apart and carve my bones into spoons so he can slurp up the blood from my RIPPED INTESTINES!_ Tweek thought in petrified horror. _Nooooo!_

I told you not mess with him! His common sense yelled at him, terrified. I don't wanna die! I haven't seen the dark side of the moon yet! Noooo!

_Arghhh!_

In spite of all of his certainty though, no death blows came toward him and he felt nothing, save where the controller hit his leg in a stinging rush. Tweek squawked, looking up from his thermos-shield hesitantly at the still-sitting Craig, then at the plastic game controller that had been tossed at him.

Craig flipped him off again as he gave an exasperated sigh. "Fucking _chill_." He leaned over a little closer and Tweek jolted in fear; the raven ignored this and pointed at the buttons. "That one is to shoot the gun. Spin that stick to aim; you'll find out the others later. Easy."

Tweek wanted to say something along the lines of "easy for _you_ to say", but his heart rate still hadn't returned to normal yet, and he was still stunned that Craig hadn't killed him.

Maybe he had and this was all a blood-loss induced hallucination in his final moments.

He didn't really want to think about that.

Tweek whimpered a bit in confusion, but obediently picked up the controller, hesitantly resuming his earlier position nearer to Craig. It wasn't the first time he had unwittingly grabbed the nearest person in fear, although it never by any means made it any less awkward when it happened with a stranger at school. He just didn't think he could have gotten away with it so easily with Craig.

Was it really alright? Craig didn't think he was crazy or some sort of _pervert_? Oh God, what if he did? What if he spread horrible rumors about him at school and everyone thought he was a crazy _pervert? Augh!_

Because he had died so early in the game, it had taken him directly back to the main menu. Tweek made no move to start, trembling hands clutching the controller like a lifeline. "I-I'm sorry..."

Craig took his time in answering, his piercing eyes never wavering from where they were stuck on the unmoving screen. "Guess you can't help it." He finally said.

"_Ngh..._" Tweek twitched.

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Craig looked at him. "You gonna play or not?"

"_Ahh! Yes!_" Tweek smacked wildly at the buttons, somehow actually managing to start again. It struck him that Craig had said that he was gonna play after Tweek had died, but he supposed the raven had taken pity on him and was giving him a second chance for being so craptastic at it the first time.

_How nice...see, brain, Craig is nice!_

Whatever, came the sullen self-response.

Tweek was more on guard this time around, biting his lip and grunting nervously as he focused all of his attention on the game. The dark, mangled halls of the 'abandoned' spaceship met his eyes and Tweek angle the control stick forward, his character walking slowly on-screen.

This time, when the deformed monstrosity showed itself, Tweek was a little more prepared. Or, at least, a little more trigger-happy. The same roar came and the blond shrieked, twisting in a crazy, loopy circle as he pressed the button to fire; a spray of bullets went everywhere. It was lucky the monster only died after three bullets; the rest of them missed by a horrible mile.

Tweek was breathing a little hard at the end of it, as his character moved forward by itself and examined the thing, saying some kind of muttered, shocked curse—Tweek wasn't really paying attention, seeing as he was just too damned happy to be _alive_. He glanced over at Craig, who gave him an unreadable stare and made a 'shoo'-ing motion with his hand, gesturing him to continue.

The blond bit down a whimper as he turned back to the game. The feeling of dread was really making sense now...why oh why hadn't he chosen a nice, innocent racing game? Well, there was no time to regret it now, he'd chosen this one and now he had to fight for his character's life! If he didn't, he'd die! Well, only in the game...but what if he died in real life too? _What if it was like that movie 'Stay Alive'?_

For the very sake of his coffee-loving existence, he had to protect his gun-toting, armored character! _Arghhh!_

Tweek continued playing the game, picking up different guns and ammo and health packs as he explored otherwise empty rooms. And of course, more scythe-clawed mutants attacked him from the depths of shadows and rooms, following and leaping at him down stairs and into claustrophobic dim elevators, ripping open the fragile, rusted doors to get at him and causing him to shriek and do crazy things with his gun. Tweek was a spazzy little bullet-happy character, and he never failed to kill the insane bloodthirsty monsters that came after him, although now he got more 'wounds' seeing as more and more of the things converged on him. He was always low on ammo though, no matter how many ammo packs he got and guns he switched, seeing as he shot both the monsters and everything that caught him off guard in the game.

Like dead bodies.

And twists of metal that looked like dead bodies.

And shadows.

And everything else.

His squeaks and screams died down to mere grunts and the occasional whine, and maybe someone near him like Craig would think that this meant that he had gotten used to the game and stopped freaking out about it. And maybe someone like Craig might possibly conclude that this calm-ish Tweek was a great breakthrough and was here to stay.

But we don't know what Craig thought. He is, after all, Craig Tucker and as such, we've not gotten enough interaction from him.

However, if someone actually thought these thoughts, they would be dead _wrong._

Tweek was the exact opposite of calm. He was the spazziest he'd ever been…on the inside. It was like…getting so far into it, that he'd completely forgot he existed.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tweek realized this made no sense.

He was concentrating so hard he had stopped paying attention to anything out of the game itself, which was pretty much everything that involved reality. He scowled fiercely at the screen, seeing nothing but the dim lights and twisted metal, twitching inwardly at every little noise coming from around him. He knew they were out there, and now when they came at him, they were always in huge numbers, trying to rip off his flesh, his bones from his very skin and leaving NOTHING BUT BLOODY SMEARS ON THE WALLS!

"_Ngh…_" He twitched in real life once, and went on forward, his footsteps echoing, hearing his heart beat faster and faster, throbbing hotly in his chest. A shadow lunged at him and he froze, fingers flying to shoot only on reflex. Luckily it was only one and it died quickly, lying on the ground like some fallen demon of Hell.

Tweek suppressed a whimper, the gun shaking in his hands. God…what if he ran out of ammo? He didn't think he had too much left…A door appeared in his way, the metal bent slightly inward and bearing the fading scabbed remnants of bloody handprints and even more scary, raw gouges in the metal.

Mutant claw marks.

Tweek suddenly knew that there was something there, beyond that door waiting for him, something big and dark and horrible, something that was out for his damn _blood._

And it was time now to face it. The noises got louder, and Tweek started to hear footsteps.

_Thump._

_Thump._

Tweek shivered, his perpetual trembling going down to something like continuous vibrations. They were coming closer, closer, heralding his death, his doom…

_Thumpthump!_

_Thumpthump!_

OhGodohGodohGod…Tweek shivered again, gripping his gun like his life depended on it, tight fingers clutching as a light-headed feeling overtook him, his breath coming in short, harsh pants. His mind felt like it was stretched to its breaking point; there wasn't more he could take of the repressed fear, whether he knew it or not, something was going to snap, just like it had after the fight.

_THUMPTHUMP!_

_THUMPTHUMP!_

Tweek opened the door—

SLAM!

"_What the FUCK did I tell you damn kids? I told you to keep it d—_"

"AAAARGHHH!" Tweek's terrified scream cut off Craig's mother's rant and he jumped up, flinging the controller as far away from him as he could possibly manage. Craig shot up in shock and anger but Tweek was already running, pushing past the woman at the doorway to shoot in absolute fear through the hallway, his mind and heart racing.

_I shouldn't have played the game, they're real, they're after me, it's real, it's real…I don't wanna die._

It was mere seconds but every thought of every kind raced through his brain and he felt close to tears, about ready to break. He cast his blurred gaze around as he ran, expecting to see a door in the shadowed, ravaged-metal hallway so he could escape, but all he saw was a creamy light yellow, and the color of photos.

Craig's house.

_I was at Craig's house, playing a game._

_…it's not real._

The clear fact hit him and he stopped, braking in an almost impossible abruptness. There was nothing to be afraid of; it wasn't real, all he'd done was embarrass himself again. But it was too late. His foot slipped and suddenly there was nothing steadying him anymore. The floor vanished from underneath him and Tweek gasped in silent horror, looking down the high height of the stairs.

Then everything was a blur.

Every step seemed to an eternity, nothing but pain and fear and more pain. Tweek was tossed around like a rag doll, and every hit knocked the breath from his lungs so he could barely breathe. He couldn't see, all the yellow blurred together in a pattern that was only Terror.

Tweek flew, and the ground rushed up to bitch-slap him in the face. He _bounced_, and his head hit the harsh ground once more, sending stars through his hazy vision and shooting lightning through his brain. He lay still, body unmoving.

"Oh my God!"

"_Tweek!_"

The simultaneous calls sent a tremor through him, but it was Craig's voice calling his name—for real, for the very first time; was he being stupid just for noticing that?—that made him stir, lifting himself up on bruised, shivering arms, knees barely managing to slide underneath him to sit him up. A dull, aching throb ravaged his body, making him whimper, and Tweek felt a warm, metallic liquid in his mouth. He'd bitten his tongue.

He looked up and saw Craig and his mother at the top of the stair, staring at him in horror, and as he looked at them, a thin dribble of blood fell past his lips, staining his chin. He saw Craig's eyes widen, and Tweek felt a thick blockage in his throat, his eyes tearing up.

"_Nhhh…uwaahhh…_"

Suddenly he was sobbing, crying miserably, and Craig took a step forward but Tweek got up before the other could come down the stairs, bolting and somehow at the same time limping toward the front door. He was out of the house before anyone could stop him and he took off down the street, crying piteously.

He couldn't believe it! How could he have been so stupid and paranoid and, and, and… just so stupid? Things had been going so well, and Craig was being nice and had let him play the game again instead of insulting him for sucking so bad…he was going to have a real friend! This had been his chance, his chance to maybe sway Craig enough to sit with him at lunch and talk and get to know each other better and share coffee and stuff…

And now he'd ruined it.

Tweek remembered his terrified shriek and how he'd run past Craig's mom in the doorway. Only now did he realize that the footsteps he'd heard were only her angry stomps to come and tell them to be quiet and keep the noise down, not some sort of scary monster waiting for him in the halls…the game halls, anyway! They were never real, so why had he freaked out so much?

He knew the reason why. Because he was so paranoid all the time, too much fear, too much panic.

And now Craig probably hated him. He'd seen the shocked look on the other's face when he saw the blood. He was probably just worried he'd get blood on the carpet, because ninjas were like that. They hated blood on the carpets. And now Craig hated him and wouldn't invite him to play games at his house anymore!

Tweek reached his house in record time, even impeded as he was by tears and the blood drooling from his mouth and he hurriedly knocked open the door, collapsing on the other side once it was closed and locked. There he let his tears flow freely, and his sobs echoed as he blubbered into his clenched fists. And Tweek let out a wretched whimper of agony as he realized something else.

He'd forgotten his thermos again.


	4. Ebbing Back And Forth

**Part Three:**  
_**Ebbing Back And Forth**_

Tweek curled up twitching within the confines of his sheets, nursing the nearly-drained thermos he held in his clenching fingers. It was once again morning, and he had passed once again ANOTHER sleepless night doing nothing except wallowing in his absolute misery, and occasionally defending against the gnomes and their raids on his drawers. He cursed under his breath. Damn those gnomes.

For years, they'd been plaguing him, taunting him with their small stature and freaking dark-ninja skillz! Stealing his underwear, and then making the whole town think he was crazy! Well, he was showing them now, wasn't he? No sleep made for a very focused and slightly extreme Tweek, which in turn helped the Super Plan Against Antagonistic Zealots, or SPAAZ. Yes…as long as he could continue to stay awake, Tweek could fight against those damn gnomes and their EVIL UNDERWEAR STEALING WAYS!

Tweek felt the burning flare of righteous anger flare in his breast, then just as quickly die off again. He sighed, curling tighter. There wasn't any point to his thinking. It was just a way to distract him. And he knew exactly what it was—unsuccessfully—trying to distract him from.

Craig Tucker.

Or rather, his failed friendship with Craig Tucker, the only person with whom he might have possibly had some sort of connection with.

Tweek sighed once more, taking a slow sip from his thermos, only to discover he had drained it with his last sip. He stared mournfully at it. It could bring him no comfort. It wasn't a pretty silver and green, it had no leaves on it…no, it was a dusky scarlet orange, his backup thermos. Even its color reminded him of his horrible, GODFORSAKEN FAILURE!

…*sigh*

He had been plagued with thoughts of his last visit to Craig's house, and how he'd ruined it completely. Tweek fingered the rim of his thermos miserably, a small pout on his features. Well, at least he could say it was all his own fault. Craig had invited him over, hadn't rejected him for being too spazzy or anything, and instead it had been Tweek who had thrown it all away. But at least he could still say Craig had tried.

Tweek had lain here for two days now, the day before yesterday having been the one involving the Incident, as he was calling it now in order to spare himself more embarrassment at saying any specifics, and still thoughts and memories plagued him, making him blush in shame every couple of minutes.

He was still in a bit of shock, he supposed. Things had been going so well…now that Craig surely hated him, he was certain that he wouldn't be able to sit with him in the mornings, much less during lunchtime, and he was pretty sure he couldn't even call out to him in the halls to say 'hi', unless he wanted to lose his _flippin' face_. And there was no way he was going over to Craig's house now. Not even to rescue his beloved favorite thermos. Tweek had resigned himself to the fact yesterday that it was gone, a lost casualty of war that he would never be able to get again, and it was all his fault. That in itself was the cause of many of his tears last night, and he had almost cried himself to sleep before the gnomes had come in and tried another raid.

He was gonna discover their lair one day. And find their leader. And then he'd…he'd…well, he'd do something cool and ninja-like when the time came! Not something cowardly like run away screaming…no…of course not…

But anyway! His thermos was lost. Forever. No way to recover it. And there was no way Tweek was going over to Craig's house to face his sure anger and horrible _horrible WRATH!_

…for a couple of hours the day after the Incident…he had actually had some tiny hope that maybe…maybe Craig wasn't mad at him. Maybe, like the other times he'd been a spaz, the deadly raven would forgive him. And Tweek had wished this more than anything he had ever wished for before, even in those times that he'd done something embarrassing at school and wished to disappear right through the floor. He hoped that Craig would come to his house again and return his thermos, and maybe invite him back; in Tweek's imagination the raven would say it was alright and flip him off casually and the blond would give him free coffee as a thank-you present.

After a few hours, though, his hope faded. And by the time the sun was at an angle in the afternoon sky, Tweek had completely given up hope. It seemed he had really pissed off the one person he really didn't want to. The one who could literally tear him apart limb from limb. The raging _ninja_-demon, evil-mask-wearing Craig Tucker.

Tweek shuddered just thinking about it. He had made so much progress in such a little time, or well, in what time that they had 'known' each other. Their younger years didn't count. This was a different Craig, a different raven who stood apart from everyone else with his mask full of anger and threatening rage. He'd been alone for a year and a half, carving out a space just for himself by pure strength and power. And Tweek had been so, so close to finally getting a friend, someone to help him through the morning and lunch where his fears were at their peak. It might have been for the wrong intention, but he had been hoping all the same…!

The blond looked into the dark empty depths of his orange thermos, the possibilities running through his mind. He had completely cured Craig of his definitely insane urge to have Tweek as his friend.

…did this mean he was back to where he started? Back to being alone in the morning, always watching out for something in the shadows, cowering beneath the fears that plagued him?

_Of course. There's no other possibility_. His mind muttered anxiously, a quaver to the words. _Craig won't protect you anymore. And…you might even have to watch out for him too._

What? Tweek twitched and quivered, already dreading what new things his brain would come up with.

_You might have pissed him off more than you think. Maybe...maybe now you have to watch out for him too._

Tweek paled, freezing in place. Oh God...no, no, that was impossible, right? That would never happen...was it possible that Craig would be coming after him now? Thirsting and raging to spill and drink Tweek's _BLOOD?_

No...never...Tweek shuddered at the very thought of the horrible battles that would surely take place. Because he really didn't want to kill Craig. Craig might have been a ninja, but Tweek had MAD SUPAH NINJAH SKILLZ _OF DEATH!_

...okay, yeah, Craig would kill the crap outta him.

Tweek stifled a defeated sob, thinking once more on wills and lawyers. He really didn't want to die, especially at the hands of someone who could have been his friend. He glanced once more into the empty replacement thermos, sighing as he crawled out from underneath the covers and gingerly stepped off of his bed. A few steps brought him into range of his coffeemaker set-up by the wall, but as Tweek searched for his bag of coffee grounds, he realized he had run out. There wasn't a single grain of the delicious substance left.

...

OH SWEET FLIPPING MOTHER OF GOD, WHYYYYYYYY?

WHAT COULD HE HAVE DONE TO DESERVE THIS HORRIBLE PUNISHMENT?

Tweek dropped to the ground on his knees in terrible agony, screaming his horror to the sky. "_Nahhh! Why, God, whyyyyyyyyy?_"

Then he got up, holding back tears. Dear Lord, how? Why? What if he starved to death? Dehydrated himself and shriveled up like a corn husk with his tongue lolling out and all black and cracked and stuff? Arghh, that was a horrible way to die! He couldn't die like that! But he had no coffee! Not a single bit left! It wasn't like he could just go downstairs to the kitchen and—

Oh, yeah, the kitchen. Tweek remembered that his father had brought more bags of coffee yesterday to refill their stock.

Hmm. He was saved, it seemed. Tweek blamed his amazing coffee skillz.

He pouted, holding his thermos to his chest as he wandered out into the empty hall, his parents having already gone out to the coffee shop. Luckily, they never knew that he had even been gone at all, on that terrible day; as soon as he had been able to pick himself up from the floor by the door, Tweek had gone into the kitchen and ripped off the note he had left for them, scattering the coffee magnets onto the ground. He had left them there in his misery, but the note he had promptly balled up and thrown into the trash before running away to his room to continue his crying in peace. And when his parents had come home, he had just pretended to be asleep, vaguely twitching and muttering nonsense sounds. (He didn't have much practice in what sleeping people really did.) To anyone who had really known him, they would have known instantly that Tweek didn't sleep, and when he slept, it certainly wasn't like that; Tweek didn't know this, but when he managed to sleep and not have nightmares, he was knocked out like a light, sprawled out and breathing deeply as he muttered sleepily—at least he got that right—and suckling on nothing. Even in his dreams he drank coffee.

But even though it was clearly and instantly obvious that he was faking—he still had tear tracks on his cheeks—Tweek's parents didn't seem to know; they looked in on his curled form and cooed at him, and thankfully left him alone after closing his door.

And then Tweek heard them in their room.

He had groaned in half-exasperation, half-completely creeped out, and brought his laptop to his bed, blasting music through his earbud headphones until he was certain his head would explode and the sounds had gone away, away, away. It was a dangerous act, to be certain, as he couldn't hear anything that might have sneaked up on him, and indeed, when he finally pulled them away, his ears ringing, he discovered the the gnomes had stolen two more pairs of his underpants.

It was still worth it, though.

But today they were gone, and Tweek ventured slowly into the kitchen after surviving the stairs, peeking in to make sure no one was there, like robbers and cutthroats, or worse, Jehovah's Witness people. He shuddered.

Thankfully the kitchen was empty, and Tweek tiptoed in peace toward the coffeemaker that was there, and the flavored bags of coffee lying on the counter next to it. He thought for a moment, glancing over the labels, and finally decided on a mocha cinnamon blend. Tweek easily, through habit alone, got the coffeemaker ready and turned it on; soon the light, delicate smell of cinnamon mixed with heavy chocolate wafted out from the kitchen as the coffee dripped and poured into the pot. He hummed a little as he worked, tapping the counter with restless fingers as he twitched and hummed some more.

And the doorbell rang. Just once, but it rang.

Tweek looked up curiously, casting a wary eye around. It was pretty early...and a school day. Who could be bothering him? The doorbell came again and he shuffled slowly to the front door. His hand was actually on the doorknob when he jolted, a spark of realization going through him.

Maybe he should check who it was, first.

Tweek stifled a shriek, praising God and all his heavenly angels for sending him such an important lifesaving revelation. If it was Craig, he was surely coming for his delicious, bloody MEAT!

He stood on tiptoes, peering into the peephole he oh-so-rarely used. Which, on that point, he should use more often. At first it was little hard to focus; the fisheye lens was not something he was used to, by any means, but soon he concentrated and focused.

The hat tassels and dark blue hoodie were what he saw first. Then he saw the mask fangs and piercing blue eyes.

Craig Tucker stood lazily on his porch, hands in his pockets, ready to gobble him up.

"_Eeek!_" Tweek tried to jerk back but only tripped on his feet, falling flat on his ass with a heavy thump. Though he couldn't see it now, Craig's head perked up at the sounds, and this time a knock sounded.

"Open up."

Tweek froze, breathing a little fast. Oh God, Craig knew somebody was in here, what could he do, what could he do? He was too young and pretty to die! He bit his lip, shuffling just a bit closer to the door and standing up. "U-um..._there's n-no one here,_ _ngh!_" He called in a high-pitched voice, trying to fool the other behind the door.

Craig rolled his eyes at Tweek's stupidity and knocked again. "Tweek. Open the door."

"_'Tweek'? No, no here._"

The raven's eye twitched. "What?"

"_No, no, no here...no..._" Tweek continued with his falsetto, trailing off uncertainly. Craig was completely fooled by his amazing voice-disguise, he was sure of it; now all he had to do was wait and Craig would leave, and leave him alive.

There came another knock, and a sing-song voice trailed to his ears, "_Tweee-eek...I know you're in there..._"

Tweek paled, quivering in horror. Oh God. That voice honestly creeped him out more than Craig's threatening voice. A shiver ran down his spine, and he squeaked.

...he was so screwed.

Craig knocked again, but this time it lasted longer, and Tweek detected a certain rhythm to it, like a drum beat. It ended, and Tweek perked up, his curiosity flitting out. He had a thing for rhythms. Rhythms were cool. They were like patterns, and Tweek loved patterns. He laid his hand on the door tentatively, and curled it into a fist, knocking carefully.

_Tap tap-tap-tap tap...tap tap_

There was silence.

Tweek instantly started to panic, trembling even more. Sweet angels in Heaven, what if Craig thought he was a freak? What if he spread around that Tweek acted like a little kid and tapped out rhythms on doors? _What if he was laughing at him RIGHT NOW?_

Before he could do anything though, a small noise reached his ears. It was...a ringtone? But not inside...it was coming from outside, from where Craig was on the porch. He listened closer. It was some kind of Jamaican reggae stuff...?

_Tap, tap-tap-tap tap, thump, tap-tap tap tap, thump thump, tap_

Tweek looked a bit shocked as Craig continued to beat out a rhythm on his door, following along perfectly with the ringtone. And just when he thought it couldn't get any awesome-er, Tweek heard another noise come into being, a puffing, staccato whuff of voice. His jaw dropped.

Craig was _beat-boxing_.

Tweek snorted, he choked, but he couldn't help the hiccupy giggle that shot from his throat, and soon descended into full out laughter. He fell on the carpet in front of the door, trying very unsuccessfully to hold back his laughs as he rolled a bit, trying to regain his breath. Craig's voice stopped but his taps didn't and soon he was beat-boxing again, which only made Tweek laugh harder.

Okay, there couldn't be any way Craig was coming to kill him. No ninja would beat-box to Jamaican reggae _unless_ he came in peace. It was practically law! Tweek fluttered a bit on the floor but finally managed to get up, wiping away laughter tears as he opened the door slightly. Craig stopped as soon as he heard the latches rattle, and by the time the doorknob was being turned he was snapping his phone shut, cutting off the reggae music.

Tweek peeked behind the door carefully, his cheeks still flushed as he peered at the raven, giving him a nervous smile.

Craig didn't look angry, even though he couldn't see much with the mask on, but Tweek thought he could see a twinkle in his blue eyes, one that didn't really say '_I'm going to kill you and rip out your spine_'. The blond dithered for a second, then finally pulled back, opening the door far enough for the raven to come through.

"H-hey Craig..."

Craig acknowledged him with a nod, stepping far enough in that Tweek could close the door. The twitching boy felt his old apprehension returning. Okay, so maybe Craig wasn't going to whip out a knife and flay open his ribs to take a look at his dying heart, but that didn't mean he didn't have some other TERRIFYING, DEMONIC PLAN IN MIND!

Tweek twitched.

Craig looked around. "Cinnamon?"

"_My coffee_!" Tweek bolted for the kitchen with a shriek on his tongue, where his coffee was waiting for him, all done, inside of the glass pot in the coffeemaker. He sighed in relief and poured himself a thermos-full, mixing in the necessary additives as the calming steam wafted to his twitching nose. A thought hit him and he peeked out of the kitchen, to look at Craig who was now lounging languidly on the living room couch.

"U-um...do...do you -_ngh-_ want s-some coffee?"

Craig nodded and Tweek scampered back to the kitchen, pouring another large cup-full and grabbing a straw from the bag in the nearby counter for Craig to drink from. He was getting slightly used to this, he mused.

Trotting back to the living room, he handed Craig his cup, hearing a grunted "Thanks" in return as Tweek sat down on the couch as well, but leaving a bit of space between them. Y'know...just in case.

There was a silence. Tweek slurped up his coffee anxiously, thoughts running through his head. Okay. So it didn't really seem like Craig was mad. And this was a good thing, right? Yes. It was. Okay, then...this meant that maybe Tweek could apologize and have things return to normal...hopefully. Did this also mean he could have his thermos back? Argh, he really wanted it back now!

He looked over at Craig, who was doing his usual slurping routine through the colorful bendy straw, eyes fixed on the opposite wall. Should he ask? Or apologize first? Maybe he should give him a gift or something to butter him up first...mmm, butter.

There was a rustle of movement, and Craig reached into the seemingly flat front pocket of his hoodie, pulling out the green and silver thermos Tweek so loved. Tweek felt his jaw drop. He had been watching that, and he hadn't even caught how that was possible! Dear God, Craig really was a ninja! How was that move even possible?

Craig held it up in Tweek's face, wiggling it tantalizingly. The blond whimpered in amazement, shoving his orange thermos between his knees so he could reach for it reverently. Craig lifted it out of reach and Tweek's jaw dropped again in horror, hands making little grabby motions.

"You put a crack in my controller. And blood on the carpet." Craig pulled it up even higher, wiggling it again. Tweek bit his lip, not daring to say anything. He knew it. Craig was feeling slighted, at the very least. Was he going to keep Tweek's thermos as some sort of payment? Did he want a favor? Would Tweek have to make a _blood sacrifice _to get it back?

"And I had to clean up the coffee that you spilled on my floor." Tweek's hope was dying by the second. He made the grabby motions again in desperation, reaching out as far as he could. Another whine escaped his throat.

"My mom thinks you're on crack."

Tweek let his arms fall down, head bowing. He'd never get it back...

A nudge to his forehead made him look up, and he saw Craig pushing the thermos at him, one eyebrow raised. The twitchy blond didn't react for a second, trying to figure out whether or not this was some sort of trick, or even a ploy to make him try and get it back only to have Craig yank it away and claim it as his. The raven nudged him with it again, and Tweek reached up with a trembling hand, his heart beating quickly. Once his hands closed over it, Craig let go, letting Tweek take it back into his possession.

Craig leaned back into the couch, sticking the straw under his mask again and taking a couple more slurps, leaving Tweek to cuddle the newly-returned thermos in his arms, tracing the familiar pattern of leaves and vines over it.

While Tweek was still in shock over this glorious gesture, he still looked up at Craig, managing a quivering, "Th-thank you, Craig." He looked down again, then continued. "_Ngh_...I-I'm sorry...for d-doing all of -_hnn_- of th-that, too..."

He was greeted with silence, except for the sounds of Craig's slurps and swallows, and he glanced up to see the raven still staring at the wall, staring at nothing. After a few more moments he started to squirm, because this was ninja badass Craig Tucker and he didn't want his spine ripped out through his ass, because he was certain it would hurt a lot before he died.

There was a deep breath, not from him, and he heard Craig's rough voice.

"You were spazzing like a squirrel with its nuts chopped off..."

Tweek blushed furiously, not because he was necessarily embarrassed, but because he was feeling slightly put out and insulted that Craig would compare him to such a thing. Okay, and there was a bit of embarrassment in there too. He opened his mouth to speak and protest the statement, when something miraculous happened.

Craig's body started to shake, lightly, but shake all the same, and a strange, muffled noise started to come from the depths of his mask. The raven rubbed his forehead with one hand, his demonic-looking fangs stretching and contracting rhythmically. Because it had been so long since he had heard it, and even then being a rare occurrence, it took a bit for Tweek to process what was happening, and no, it wasn't a migraine or some kind of stroke. It was something so astounding, Tweek almost forgot to breathe.

Craig Tucker was laughing.

Not an evil laugh, or a making-fun-of-you laugh, it bore no maliciousness and Tweek had the feeling that it wasn't really directed at him so much as the situation they had been under.

It...wasn't that bad, really. It had a pleasant kind of ring to it, born out of the tiny roughness of his voice, and the contentedness of the person itself. Craig kept laughing, until he was laughing so hard he could barely breathe, his cheeks flushed and pink, eyes scrunched closed as he held his stomach.

The sight brought a smile to Tweek's lips, and the laughter was contagious; soon Tweek was doing it as well, his chortle degrading into full on laughter. This certainly wasn't what he had been expecting when he saw Craig in the peephole. Still, though, he wasn't complaining.

After a moment, Craig brought himself under control, chuckling and relaxing on the couch again. "I shouldn't laugh at stuff like that, but..." He shrugged as if saying it was out of his control.

"It's f-fine." Tweek wiped away tears again, laying his green and silver thermos aside to continue drinking the coffee he had in the orange one. Craig turned to look at him fully this time, tapping his head. "You alright?"

Tweek's fingers went up to touch his forehead and the bridge of his nose, which had received the brunt of the pain when he had fallen down Craig's stairs. "Yeah. It, uh...i-it took a while -_ngh!_ For my t-tongue to stop bleeding, though..." Craig nodded, and stood up, holding his cup lightly.

"Wanna come over again? We can play something else."

Tweek flushed, looking down. "You...you're n-not really mad at me or -_ngh-_ a-anything?"

Craig shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket, rolling his shoulders in what could only be described as a shrug. "Nah...kinda my fault, really..." He motioned with his head toward the door. "So, you gonna?"

The blond barely had to think about it. "Sure!"

The raven-haired boy chuckled, and though Tweek couldn't see, he thought that Craig might have been smiling.

* * *

Tweek in all honesty, had absolutely no idea why Craig had forgiven him. It was beyond his understanding, just as his father's metaphors were beyond him, too. He had ruined his controller, bled on his stuff, and ran out on him, but still he invited him back. To play more games, nonetheless! It boggled the very depths of his mind…

They went back to Craig's house, and this time the raven put on a simple racing game, challenging Tweek to beat him on his home turf...or track. Whatever. Once Tweek got used to the controller and the tiny delicacies or racing…he still sucked. Yup, there was no other way to say it, but Tweek couldn't race to save his life. But even through all of that, he still had fun.

'Fun'. It wasn't something he thought he would ever use to describe being around Craig, but it was true. It was actually pretty enjoyable. All the days of their little 'vacation', Craig would come over sometime early in the morning and invite Tweek over to his house, which the blond eagerly agreed to, until it came to the point that Tweek didn't even wait for Craig to come pick him up; he went out to either meet him halfway or just show up at the raven's house before Craig could get through the front porch. Of course, it was all after Tweek's parents had left for work, so he wouldn't get in trouble. Tweek didn't think he might necessarily be in too much trouble, but you never knew.

Bloodthirsty vampires impersonated parents every day, just to feed on the blood of their innocent children. Why else were there so many goths around in the world now? Tweek knew the real reason. Vampire impersonation and infiltration!

So it was all in the matter of his own safety.

But Tweek came to enjoy the time he spent with Craig. It was just a couple of days, but already he was feeling so comfortable around the other; it was fast becoming a habit for him. It wasn't even that they had too much in common, because, really, they didn't—except for the ninja way—but it was the mere fact that this was the first time that Tweek had someone to hang out with that didn't look at him like he was insane or just stupid. And Craig was way cool!

What else could you call a Peruvian fighting ninja who possessed real ninja swords, could beat-box _and_ tap out awesome rhythms? And he was amazing at videogames! Tweek made the mistake once of picking out Mario Brawl and trying to beat him…God, he would never do that again…*shudder*

But anyway, Craig was awesome.

Well…that didn't mean he didn't have his flaws.

Craig had the _worst_ sense of humor. For Tweek, at least. They were sitting together after the second time, Tweek slurping and gnawing on a greasy, slippery, cheesy, perfect slice of pepperoni pizza—the blond didn't normally eat meat (So many diseases! Germs and bacteria and half-cleaned smears of feces on the sliced apart meat…the viruses and infections lingering on the half-rotting flesh that was flash frozen and sent out, only to be cooked improperly by acne-faced brats who wanted nothing but people's guts to be STRICKEN WITH NECROTIC SEPTIC DEGREDATION OF LIVING TISSUE!) but Craig had brought it up for him, and ninjas always knew what was poisoned and what wasn't, so Tweek just took it at his unspoken word…and it was delicious too—while Craig tried to beat his fastest time on DS3. He was a lot better at it than Tweek was. And that's when it happened.

"Hey."

"…_mhh_?" Tweek's mouth was a bit busy.

Craig didn't look away from the glowing screen, getting in a perfect headshot to an attacking mutant. "What's the best part about fucking a dead baby?"

Tweek's eyelid twitched; he stared at Craig in shock. He couldn't be serious…right? He felt the pizza roil a bit uncomfortably in his gut. "_Nnn_…_m-mhhh_?" He asked shakily.

"Hearing the pelvis pop."

There was a moment of silence. Then a slick, choking sound as the food slid half-chewed down Tweek's throat in his horror. "_Auu-rkk!_ W-what the hell? Oh God, _gah!_ YOU FUCK D-DEAD BABIES?"

Craig laughed lowly, fingers fiddling with the control stick. The controller, incidentally, was fine. "I got that one from /b."

"What? /b?" Tweek half-screeched. Was that some sort of secret organization for horrible necrophilic pedophiles? The raven shook his head. "First rule of /b. Never mention /b."

Tweek shrieked, flinging his thermos at Craig's head. The other dodged it without even looking at it. Tweek had found that Craig was rarely caught off-guard. That punch Tweek had landed on him was extremely lucky. "H-how was that a joke? Th-th-that's _wrong,_, man! _Wrong!_"

Craig shrugged as Tweek grumbled and retrieved his thermos.

Maybe not the worst sense of humor, but, Craig liked really wrong jokes.

And dirty limericks. He really liked those.

When Tweek found out, he came to his house one day, eager to share his newest knowledge—a limerick he'd found on the internet—with his raven-haired friend, and hopefully get a laugh out of him. He hadn't heard it since Craig had compared him to an emasculated squirrel. Otherwise, it'd just be embarrassing.

"C-Craig! Craig!"

The other was settling down on his bed, sprawled out lazily. "Mhm?"

Tweek took a deep breath and recited, as steadily as he could,

"_Th-there once was a man f-from Caras,_

_Whose b-balls were both made of brass-ngh!_

_He clanked them together_

_In dark stormy w-weather,_

_A-and lightning shot out of his a-ass!_"

Craig stared at him for a moment, his mask barely fluttering with his breath, before barking out a laugh, howling so hard his mother came to shut them up, flashing a double middle-fingered salute as she yelled in anger. Craig shot her two back, still laughing. Tweek felt very proud of himself. And scared, of course—Craig's mother was creepy sometimes—but mostly proud. He supposed that in his time alone, Craig had to entertain himself somehow. And games, freaky jokes and dirty limericks had just happened to fill the gap. Tweek didn't see fit to mention this observation to Craig; it seemed wrong to shove that kind of stuff in someone's face, especially when it was their life and loneliness you were talking about.

…yeah.

And as for the last thing, obviously, was the mask. It was still there; it had never left and Tweek didn't expect it to anytime soon. It was freaky…but Tweek wasn't as afraid of it as he was in the beginning, and he was already mostly used to the sight of it on Craig's face, like a girl's earrings or someone's tattoos. But still, that didn't stop Tweek from being caught up with something and looking up absently to Craig's voice or some other thing, and flinching at the sight of the bared fangs. Tweek couldn't really hold it against Craig, he supposed. It was his choice, and they really hadn't known each other for real for very long. He didn't have any grounds to complain to Craig, and so he didn't. He just sometimes wished it wasn't there.

These were really the only 'faults' Tweek found out about Craig in the short time they spent together, and they weren't much of faults as much as quirks of personality or something. Now, drinking coffee until you're twitching at the slightest noise and paranoid as a schizo was a major flaw.

Tweek was very confused as to why Craig wanted to hang out with him.

Until of course, he remembered that Craig didn't really have many other people to hang out with in the first place. And as much as some people might have thought that an insult, it only made Tweek grin in pride.

* * *

There came a time—after, like, four days including the weekend—that Craig had to go back to school, because his little vacation was over and he had to go back. And Tweek had to groan and suck it up like A MAN, and just wait until school was over and not sulk in his room like a kid.

Which he didn't. Sulk, that is. No. Tweek was too manly for that stuff…yeah…

After school, though, Craig would be the one to go to Tweek's house to bring him over and resume their gaming and talking. Okay, well, it wasn't much talking. But when the talking moments lasted longer than four responses, then it counted as a conversation. Or something like that…Tweek wasn't sure on the rules to conversation.

After the second day Craig was back at school, and Tweek still had another day of so-called freedom, the raven was surprisingly quiet. Tweek had given him a few curious looks once they were in Craig's room, but decided against bringing it up. It was Craig's business, and if he interfered, his ribs might be shoved out of his throat! And that would definitely hurt more than having a spine ripped out of the ass.

But Craig was closed-lipped; he was more than just quiet, as if his normal quiet was disturbed by some horrible force of disharmony that had completely thrown him out of the loop of normalcy. And Tweek began to worry. But not too much, because after a few tense moments and 'Tweek' twitches, shrieks and glancing looks later, THE NINJA KNOWN AS CRAIG TUCKER spoke.

"I didn't think you'd agree to come back."

Tweek back-flipped off of the bed in screaming shock, where he had been examining a dart he had pulled from the dartboard, and subsequently nearly impaled himself on the neck as he landed on the floor. He squeaked and threw it up and away, the point lodging perfectly in the ceiling above. He looked at Craig, who was leaning back on his bed on his elbows, looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"W-what?"

Craig looked down, flopping down on the sheets. He was once again without his hoodie and hat, and his mask fluttered like a dying bubble as he breathed in and out. There was a moment of silence. Tweek knew not to interrupt. Craig took his time with serious responses.

"When you fell down the stairs. I didn't think you'd come back when I asked."

Tweek peered up on the bed, twitching hands gripping the sheets beneath his fingers. "Why not?"

Craig put his hands behind his head and somehow managed a shrug. "…I got you hurt. Thought…" another shrug. "Thought you'd be too scared to come back."

The blond looked down slightly, fidgeting. "I-I wasn't –_ngh-_ s-scared…well, not of y-you. B-but I –_erkk!_ I l-liked hanging out…w-w-with you." He gave a slightly nervous giggle. "Besides, i-i-if I hadn't opened th-the door to you, you might have…_ngh_, kicked down th-the door?" He giggled again, sinking a little lower behind the bed.

The other snorted, settling deeper into his bed. Dark blue eyes fixed on the dart lodged in the ceiling, and his voice was low and almost a bit contemptuous. "All you had to do was tell me to fuck off." Tweek looked at him curiously, but Craig didn't meet his gaze. "…I wouldn't have come back."

The coffee-addict didn't know what to say, so he kept silent, laying his cheek on the soft blue sheets. What could you say to something like that? There was a long moment of absolute quiet, and Tweek started to get a bit twitchy. Well, more twitchy than normal. His body quivered with the added pressure of silence as neither he nor Craig said anything.

Should he break the silence? Say something? Anything? Well, there was that one dirty joke he'd found online last night after the gnome raid…maybe he should use as some kind of icebreaker? Tweek felt the urge to grip his hair in anxiety. What if no one said anything at all? What if they got stuck this way forever, like the way mothers told children not to make faces or they'd get stuck that way? WHAT IF TWEEK NEVER SPOKE AGAIN? How would he answer questions at school? How would he cry out for help if he was being kidnapped? _HOW COULD HE ORDER A S IMPLE ORDER OF COFFEE?_

He'd never drink coffee again! _NOOOO!_

Before Tweek could completely blow up and explode under the horrible, horrible pressure (Oh Jesus, he didn't want to explode!), Craig sat up quickly, resting his arms on his upraised knees. "I went to GameStop yesterday, and got Homefront. It's pretty cool; you wanna play?"

Tweek perked up and shook off his hesitation, glad that someone was speaking and their lips weren't going to fuse together and render them mute for the rest of their lives unless they slashed the skin apart. "Yeah!"

Craig chuckled lowly, the somber moment having passed, and leaned forward, ruffling Tweek's wild mane with his hand. Tweek huffed, moving away. "_Gah!_ I'm n-not a cat, man."

"You're right." The raven's mask stretched, the white teeth bared further in a way Tweek had come to realize was Craig grinning. "You're too spazzy to be a cat; it's an insult to all felines."

Tweek gave a reluctant smile, moving a bit back to let Craig move off the bed to retrieve the new game from the table where the T.V. was. The raven nudged him lightly with a closed fist, and Tweek giggled, slurping from his thermos. It felt like they had overcome some sort of boundary between the two of them, as if they had each understood something about the other; Tweek thought that maybe this was what having a friend was really like, full of a type of understanding and just liking being _around_ the other.

The twitchy blond settled in his customary position next to Craig as the raven pushed in the game disc, and this time when Craig tousled his hair, Tweek just smiled and let him.

* * *

Today was the day. The day his little vacation ended, the day when Tweek would have to go back to school. He was more than a little worried; as he stared at himself in the mirror, fixing the wrinkling on his newly-donned shirt, Tweek couldn't help but think that maybe he should just stop wearing shirts with buttons. It was really pointless.

But he did love buttons…

Hmm…

The blond tugged at the hem of his shirt again, regretting the fact that he could never do his shirt right. Thank God he never wore belts, otherwise he'd never be able to wear pants, either. Tweek wanted to look cool today. It was a special day, after all. This was the first time that he was going to school, and have a real live friend waiting for him, an actual honest-to-God friend that he had hung out with and known and gotten close to.

Tweek pulled it down once more, frowning as it sprang back up to reveal improperly-fastened buttons. Ah well. Whatever.

A small knock came to the door, and Tweek looked up to see his father peeking in, a freshly steaming cup of espresso protected by his curled hands. Was he ever without that cup? It was always the same one too…just a plain white one, but always possessing the same chip on the rim, right by the handle…

"You ready for our latest adventure into the frost-bitten world of the _outer limits_?" The man quipped lightly, a smile on his face. Tweek bit back a groan, nodding. His father was too much of a fan of really old shows…and old books…and really weird, unintelligible metaphors…indeed.

"Good! Come now, fill up your wonder cup and meet me by the wondrous coffee chariot." And with that he was gone, his shuffling footsteps practically dancing across the carpet outside in the hall.

…o-okay…

Tweek looked at himself once more in the shiny reflective surface and shrugged, trudging over to his coffeemaker. He smelled the warm, slightly bitter scent and exhaled gently, relaxing as he poured black coffee into his thermos and mixed it with milk and sugar until it was creamy and the color of toffee, or a dark caramel. He took a sip to test it and nodded firmly, then repeated the process to his orange thermos, preparing it with all the careful steadiness he could muster. He couldn't mess this up. This was coffee, the sacred substance that he had partaken of since he was almost a baby in diapers, slurping it up from a sippy cup! It was sacred, holy and awesome!

Besides, this was Craig's drink anyway.

He screwed the lids on tight and trotted over to his door, picking up his backpack from where it lay by the threshold and turning off the lights before exiting his room. He felt a little nervous about this, really. It was the first day he would face the crowds since he had been suspended. There would be no telling how any of them would react to him. Of course, maybe nothing would happen. Maybe they wouldn't look at him hatefully and try to peel his skin from his bleeding muscles as he squirmed and screamed in horrible _agony_…after all, it was high school. Drama happened every day. Most likely, something else of superficial importance had happened and they had all been distracted by it. They probably wouldn't care about Tweek. Yes, they probably wouldn't even care he was back, or even notice. That's how high school was, you got your fifteen minutes of fame and that was it. And Tweek would _so_ prefer it if that was the case.

It would mean he was safe…safe to live another day and possibly hang out with Craig without any consequences. Yeah…if they didn't care about the fight anymore, then no one would care if he hung out with the raven in the mornings and at lunch. Tweek grinned as he stepped down the stairs. That would be great! Then he could finally be protected for real all the time! He wouldn't have to worry about pirate attacks or mutant, flesh-eating zombies or even blood-thirsty serial killers out for his innocent virgin MEAT!

The dark morning air was still and a bit nippy as Tweek walked out of the front door and bundled himself into the front passenger seat, buckling his seatbelt for safety. His father took a sip from the coffee cup in his left hand and smoothly turned on the ignition, slipping out of the driveway and into the street, all one-handedly. His dad was the only Tweek trusted in the driver's seat of a vehicle, much to everything with only one hand. And even then it still made him re-think whether or not this was the smart decision.

Of course, the bus was even worse, so Tweek didn't really complain.

"Bye, dad." Tweek gave the man a shaky wave and his father beamed, lifting his coffee cup in salute.

"Music makers and dreamers of dreams, my boy. Remember that."

"Y-yeah." Tweek smiled back and closed the door, for once actually knowing what his father was talking about. As the car drove away, the blond looked around the dark school, lit only by the randomly placed dim lights on the outside of the buildings. Tweek took a deep breath, cutting through the dew-wet grass underfoot on the dirt as he peeked behind the nearest edifice.

Okay, it was morning, and Craig was always here, because…well, just because. Anyway, if he was here, then Tweek had to find him. He clenched a fist in determination, striding forward importantly. This was his mission. He had to find his friend, the amazing ninja Craig Tucker, all while avoiding the creeping old man perverts lurking the goddamn bushes of this prison called _school!_ And when he succeeded, and he would succeed, he would be revered, worshiped, as the all-powerful, awe-inspiring, Tweek freakin' Twea—

"Hey."

"_AAAAAAAHHH!_" Tweek screamed like a ten-year old girl, jumping high enough to make an Olympic pole-vaulter green with envy and landing with a fantastical sort of roll to hide in a nearby bush. He gathered his hyperventilating breath as he crouched there, suddenly realizing that he hadn't checked to make sure no rapist perverts were lurking in here. Tweek hurriedly looked around with a squeak, sighing when he saw no one else occupying this spot. A short snort drew his attention again and he froze, peeking through the thin whippy branches of the bush.

Craig was standing in front of the overgrown plant, leaning his body so that one leg took most of the weight of his body as his fingers rested in the loops of his jeans. Tweek swallowed, standing up as he laughed nervously.

"S-sorry…"

As he came forward, Craig reached out and plucked a stray leaf from the mess of Tweek's hair, holding it in front of the blond's eyes. "You need to calm down."

"Haha…y-yeah…_ngh_, I kn-know." Tweek gave another embarrassed giggle, holding still as Craig's sure fingers rid his hair of little twigs and torn leaves.

"I think you're turning into a tree, I think you're turning into a tree, I really think so…" Craig's half-muttered singing monotone made Tweek grin and he pushed the raven off, rummaging in his bag for the orange thermos and straw. Craig took them silently, turning away wordlessly to walk off toward another building. Tweek followed obediently, trusting Craig to find an appropriately safe spot to drink coffee in. You could never be too safe, drinking such a glorious drink that EVERYBODY would have LOVED TO STEAL.

Craig finally stopped in the shadows of a building that looked oddly familiar to the blond, and it took him a bit to remember why it was so familiar out of all the other buildings around them in the dark of the morning school.

"Oh..."

It was the same building, the same sheltered corner where Tweek had made the mistake of hiding in a couple months ago; where he had first had his scary encounter with Craig Tucker, who at that point he still thought was a demon.

How ironic...

_...and slightly comforting._ Tweek thought happily, settling where Craig was standing. As the raven slid down next to him, Tweek let go of his thoughts, concentrating only on the feeling of his coffee sliding down his throat, and the safety he felt while Craig was next to him. It was good, he decided, to have a friend. Even if it was only one. Tweek felt he could understand now why people stayed together for so long in their school years, in their lives. Before, he could never really get it. 'Friendships' were dangerous, really. So many people all seeming as if they like you, but how were you to really know if that's what they truly felt? They could just be playing you, fleecing you for whatever assets they gave you, for any monetary rewards...or maybe they could even be tricksters and con men, trying to lure you into a false sense of safety so they could sell you into slavery or kidnap you! What if they arranged for some crazy rapist to steal you away, or ship you overseas to some Russian testing facility? You never knew! There was _way_ too much pressure and danger in friendships!

At least, that's what Tweek used to think.

Yes, he first thought of becoming Craig's friend to have someone to defend him in the mornings and lunch, but he never thought he would get _this_. He didn't think he would get to hang out in the afternoons, or share jokes and junk food while they played games, or even have this _comfort_ between the two of them when they sat together. It was oh so very nice. Tweek had defended Craig in a fight, almost like the fight they had had in elementary school, and when he thought about it, Tweek thought that he would do it again, and that maybe Craig would even return the favor, not out of obligation, but out of loyalty and...well, friendship.

Yeah, Tweek could definitely get used to this.

The only sounds that echoed in the small space of their corner was the _slurp_ of Craig's mouth and the twittery motions of Tweek as he sipped and twitched, eyes always on the area beyond, always on alert. Even with Craig around, even if he was the most amazing ninja ever, you always had to keep a weather eye out, just in case. But Tweek was happy for a while, safe from the claws of his paranoia, even if it was only for a moment.

And so he was completely unprepared for the stress the first person walking in front of them brought.

It was natural, of course. Within the last ten to twenty minutes, people would start arriving to school, passing by their little corners and hiding spots to get to their own usual places and meet friends, or simply to get breakfast. And Tweek never really worried as much about that as he did before. Because today, Craig wasn't leaving. The raven had finished his coffee a while back and just sat there, knees drawn up the slightest bit in a relaxed posture as he sat next to Tweek, the orange thermos lying forgotten on his lap. He was here to stay, it seemed, and Tweek was ecstatic in the fact that this meant his plan had actually, finally succeeded: Craig Tucker was now, truly, seriously, his friend. And now Tweek had someone to protect him in the mornings, and possibly, at lunch. He might have done a quiet, joyous fist-pump if he wasn't sufficiently terrified out of his mind.

It was really his fault; he couldn't help it anymore than the sky could be blue...or pink and orange. He really liked Craig being here, it was like his bestest wish come true: to just _have_ somebody. But the _people_...like before, Tweek couldn't help but think of what would happen if just one of those wandering people were to glance in their direction and take sight of them. There would gasps, wide eyes and low mutters, and then that one person would tell another, and another and another and another until every person in the freakin' school _knew _and they were all glaring at him, staring and waiting to get him alone so they could rip him into LITTLE _MICE-SIZED_ PIECES! And Craig couldn't always be around, oh no he couldn't...didn't they never see each other in the halls?

Tweek bit his lip, mind whirling in fear. He didn't want to think about stuff like that but it was oh so true, people would push him around because he was hanging out with Craig, and no one hung out with Craig, no one at all. But that was all their fault, how couldn't they see that Craig was a good person, an awesome person who liked games and stupid jokes? Why should they torture Tweek just because of who he happened to make friends with? It wasn't fair! It just wasn't!

With every person that came by, Tweek twitched more violently, until it was like he was jumping at the backfire of a passing car. He didn't notice the movement, too caught up in his thoughts to register much besides the thump of blinding fear that his heart stuttered through at every person. And deep in the very very blackest parts of his heart, his panic-filled mind wished he wasn't sitting next to Craig right now.

"...Tweek."

The short call of his name had him slapping a hand over his mouth to keep in the horrified scream that was budding in his throat. Someone had noticed him, someone had seen, oh God, what could he do now, oh sweet Jesus, he was screwed! Tweek felt the anxiety rise in his chest. He didn't want to get hurt!

"Tweek, hey!" The blond was suddenly drawn back to reality as he recognized Craig's low voice. It was only Craig...thank God. Tweek glanced over at him, surprised to see a concentrated look on his face. The raven cast his eyes over him, as if searching for something that he already knew was there, and didn't like. He returned his gaze to Tweek's eyes, leaning forward. "What is it?"

"Wh-what?" Tweek stared back at him, feeling very much trapped. Did he do something wrong? Why was Craig looking at him like that? He looked almost angry.

"You flinch every time someone comes by." Craig drew a little closer, blue eyes deepening to somewhere around black. Very dangerous. Very scary.

"I-I do?" Tweek squeaked, fighting the urge to quiver. He didn't get it, things had been going well, really really well, why would Craig be angry? It was seriously freaky, the change that had come over him so rapidly, and Tweek felt a nervousness hit him that he hadn't felt since before he had really gotten to know Craig.

The raven drew back, looking over him with an eyebrow raised. "Yeah. You do."

"I don't know why!" Tweek squealed out, involuntarily lifting the thermos he held to somewhere around chest-level. "_Ngh_, I swear!" In the back of his mind, he realized this was a bit of a lie; he had a very good idea why he was twitching, if he was doing so at all. The people were making him nervous, too nervous, and he didn't think he could hide it from Craig for too long. How was he going to manage lunch, if Craig came to sit over with him? Oh God, the pressure! He desperately wished for the bell to ring, so he could have an excuse to get up and bid Craig goodbye for now. Things were getting seriously freaky.

But Lady Luck was doing a Craig and flipped him off with both hands, intentionally screwing him over; another person walked past, and Tweek gave a violent tremor, shooting back away from Craig before he could think better of it. In a second he realized what he had done and his breath froze as he glanced back fearfully at Craig.

The raven was glaring at him hatefully, his black mask seeming to be all twisted in pure, utter rage.

Tweek shook, quivered as he opened his mouth to try and say something, anything to take that look off of Craig's face, but was too late.

"Does it bother you, Tweek?" Craig's hands were clenching and Tweek's wide eyes took that in. "Do you _not_ like hanging out with me?" He took a glance at the now empty area in front of them, the person having passed without seeing them. "Or maybe you just like being my friend in private, where no one can see us. Where no one has to see you hanging out with someone like _me_." His voice turned into a snarl. "You ashamed of me, Tweek? Is that it?"

"N-no!" Tweek protested squeakily. He wasn't ashamed of him! He liked him! He was just _terrified_ of everyone else trying RIP OFF HIS FREAKIN' ARMS! "I sw-swear, I'm n-n-_ngh!_"

Craig's anger vanished, to be replaced by a cold indifference. It was like he had wiped his face of all expression; Tweek felt like the ground had been dropped out from under him. "Yeah. Alright." He drew back even farther, and Tweek flinched as the now-empty orange thermos was carelessly tossed at his lap. Craig stood up easily and stared down at him with half-hooded eyes, the cold contempt in them searing the inside of Tweek's intestines. The blond shrank back timidly, quivering in place.

"I'll see you around." And then Craig was gone, walking away without a backwards glance.

Tweek sat there for a moment, still clutching his thermos like a protective shield, as if it could make all of what had just happened go away. He looked down at the other thermos—Craig's thermos, really, he never used it unless he didn't have his favorite one—trying to understand what had happened. But he didn't need to understand, he knew perfectly well what had happened: he had screwed up again, bad, very very bad, and this time he didn't think he could get Craig's friendship back again. And it was all his fault. Tweek felt a lump rise in his throat; this day had started out so well...

The bell rang for first period.

* * *

Tweek sat with his head in the circle of his arms in his cold seat, in the cold room, shivering and feeling the coldest he had ever felt before in his entire life.

The room and seat in themselves weren't cold. They weren't even a bit chilly, no, it was the feelings that lingered in the depths of his chest that made him feel oh so very cold: fear, worry, and a horrible deep sadness.

Tweek's day had just been going straight downhill since Craig had mistaken his fear in the morning. He didn't think it would matter, of course. It wasn't their business who he hung out with or defended. Besides, it had been so long ago...who would really care? As it turned out, all of the school, apparently.

Their fight—or rather, Tweek's defense of Craig in _his_ fight—had not gone unnoticed. And even now, it wasn't forgotten. Tweek hadn't expected it; he had convinced himself that it was old news and no one would even give him a second glance, like normal. But of course, that was too good for little Tweek, who had never had the best of luck anyway. The minute he had stepped into the school hallways, he had felt them. The _stares_. The _whispers_. The _hate_.

It seemed that nothing was ever truly forgotten here.

People had openly stared in the hallways, pointing and murmuring things about him, always just too low for Tweek to hear clearly. Oh yes, some people might just call him paranoid, that he was imagining things...but he wasn't. Not this time, anyway. Not when he could see them as clear as day and when they parted out of his way like he was freakin' Moses. It didn't make sense to him at first. He was scared that someone had seen him and Craig in the morning, and that he was going to get beaten up anyway. It was until after second period, in the hallway, when he heard the telling snippet of a whisper that someone said.

'_...defended that _freak_ last week..._'

Tweek had been stunned. They were talking about the fight! Not even about them hanging out together, because apparently no one knew about that—thank God, he didn't know how much more he could stand with them knowing—but just about something that he thought was out of everyone's head by now, something he thought he was _safe_ from! He didn't know which was worse: them remembering the fight or them knowing they were—or had been—hanging out!

So here, he was, alone, so cold on the inside he was cold on the outside, and just wishing to God that he hadn't messed up in the morning. If he hadn't angered Craig away from being his friend, he could have taken comfort on that fact, that he had some backup, some protection. Hell, Craig might have even walked him to class or something, just to be nice and make sure he wasn't hacked in half and STUFFED INTO SOME SMELLY LOCKER!

He could have been...slightly happier, at least.

But no. He was just repeating the guilt and sadness he felt at losing his only friend by his damn flaws, and beating himself up internally over it. Phht, he needn't even have worried about anyone seeing them; not only had they gone unseen, but it wasn't even what Tweek should have been worrying about. He had ruined the only thing that made his school days bearable...or _would_ have made them bearable, for nothing. And really, that was what hurt the most right now. The fact that it had been all for nothing, and his _stupid_ paranoia, his _damned_ idiocy had screwed it all up.

Tweek felt like melting into the floor and never coming out again.

He could feel them now, the stares of people unfocused on a class they should probably be paying attention to, if Tweek knew anything about the class grade average in here. He could feel their glares and heated eyes on his hunched shoulders and back; he wasn't even looking up or anything but he could _feel_ them. He had heard their whispers when the class started, and now so close to the end of class and lunchtime, he could hear them starting up again. They would start in the back of the room, like they always did, and move up and up and up until they were all around him, surrounding him like the freakin' pack of _BLOODTHIRSTY WOLVES_ they all were!

Tweek just wanted to go home...that's all he wanted, just to go _home_...

The lunch bell rang and he heard the chatter intensify, the sounds of over a dozen chairs sliding back to allow their occupants to escape the stifling, claustrophobic air of the classroom and their footsteps as they left him behind, still sitting in his cold seat, in the cold room, with his head buried in his arms. Tweek waited a minute until he was sure they were all gone before he looked up, glancing around with bleary eyes to see an empty classroom, even the teacher having gone off for her lunch break. He sighed miserably, gathering up his things and his favorite green and silver thermos, which couldn't even bring him the slightest amount of comfort right now. Tweek just kept on remembering how Craig had given it back to him on now two occasions, without even putting conditions on it's return and release, or even making him beg for it. He had been nice, nicer than Tweek deserved and now nicer than he was ever going to get again.

Sighing again, he slouched his way to the door, holding it barely open enough for him to slip past and not get smacked in the shoulders with it. There was another reason why he had waited until everyone had left before he himself left, and it wasn't _just _for the blessed silence. The less people around, the less he had to put up with those looks he would surely get from everybody else around him. It was a good plan, if people weren't such assholes and messed with it. Even when he thought there would be no one around, there were strangers walking past or standing around in the hallways, retrieving things for either their next class or for lunch, and lo behold, it was no surprise to Tweek that they stopped whatever they were doing, whether it be talking or walking, just to glance at him and exchange whispers. He saw people who would never associate with each other otherwise put their heads together and talk and murmur amongst themselves while looking at him.

He was _so glad_ he was bringing the school populace together...not.

Hunching his body even further, Tweek tried to become invisible as he padded down the halls, scuttling as fast as he could while attempting to be inconspicuous to the end of the hall he was in, hurrying toward his escape into the outside courtyard and his lunch/snack-for-the-school-day. He wanted to find his corner, and sit down in it and pretend he didn't exist. But as he found out, again, he just didn't have that kind of luck.

When he opened those doors and stepped outside, he heard the inescapable again: the silence of people around him...and then the little mutters that started up. Tweek looked around him, his mood taking an even worse plummet as he took in some of the stares that were directed toward him once more. Damn, and he thought he might have gotten a reprieve for even just thirty minutes of the day...

Head down, he scurried to his corner, siting with his knees drawn up to his chest and endeavoring to become as small as possible. Fishing his mini chocolate pie from his backpack, he munched on it moodily, eyes occasionally darting up to take in his surroundings. Lunch was usually a time he felt relatively safe, but that wasn't happening today.

Tweek sighed as he thought for the umpteenth time that day that he could have had Craig protect him and sit with him today, if he hadn't been such a complete failure as a friend. Maybe this was a sign, that either he wasn't meant or simply able to have and keep a friend like a normal person. So much was already wrong with him, why not one more thing? Speaking of which...Tweek lifted his eyes once more, trying vainly to ignore the others' eyes to instead search out for Craig and see if he might be around. Maybe he could go...apologize or something? Maybe he could tell his side of the story, that Tweek wasn't ashamed of him, no way, but he was merely afraid of what others might do to him when Craig wasn't around, just because he hung out with the raven.

But no, again Lady Luck had someone else in her sights that was clearly not small, blond and twitchy; he couldn't see Craig or his scary mask anywhere. Tweek shivered at remembering the mask and how it had snarled at him this morning. All of his work might as well have just gone out the window, because he was once again certain that he was afraid of the thing. Never before had he had so much anger directed at him before...it was a little traumatizing to the little coffee-addict, to be honest. He wasn't certain he could even face Craig like how he was feeling right now, all raw around the edges and running scared.

Whimpering slightly, he nibbled on his snack, his shakes growing a little worse. He didn't know how much more of this nervousness he could take, how much _stress_ he could handle...the people, their stares and mutters, his own natural guilt and anxiety, and now his currently friendless situation...it was getting to be too much for him, he could just tell! He was gonna snap again and get in trouble and get suspended or even expelled and his parents would toss him out to be a freakin' HOBO TO LIVE ON THE STREETS! What if he got stabbed? Or shot over some measly change? What if he got AIDS and died a _HORRIBLE, BLOODY DISEASE-FILLED __DEATH__?_ Tweek stifled a shriek at the thought, turning a bloodless pale.

Oh God, he really had to get out of here, the pressure was getting to him! Almost close to tears through sheer anxiety, Tweek wrapped up his small pie again, stuffing it into his backpack as carefully as he could while looking around for his best chance to escape. When he thought there was the smallest lull in the glares and murmurs, he shot to his feet, carefully inching around the side of the courtyard to escape into one of the hallways, different from the one he had entered outside in. Once inside, he found it to be completely deserted, as far as he could see down it, which was a considerable distance. Sighing, he shuffled deeper in, looking around. He hadn't been in this hallway many times before, he hadn't had a class here since last year. The lockers lining the walls were the same as those in the other halls he was familiar with , and it gave it a sense of safety that made him breathe deeper, easier, better than he had all day since the morning. He was safe. No one else was around, no one to judge or look at him weird, no one to whisper, nothing to make him think of Craig or any of his other problems, just sheer, pure, silence and safety. Closing his eyes contentedly, he leaned his head against one of the lockers, his thermos hanging in the cradle of his hands below his navel. And for once today, he felt good.

Until he heard the voices, that is.

"Hey, look! That's him!"

Tweek flinched and whirled around to see a couple of guys heading his way, looking directly at him. Uh oh. This couldn't be good.

They circled around him, effectively trapping him against the locker he had been leaning against, cutting off all routes of escape. Tweek's heartbeat, which was been calming down a couple of seconds ago, jumped to hyper-speeds, thumping rapidly against his rib cage. He just knew nothing good was gonna come out of this, he just _knew _it like a rabbit knew a fox was after it! He could FFEL IT IN HIS BONES!

One of them—there were only four, now that he looked—stared at him curiously. "You're the guy that jumped in the fight with Tucker last week, right? Tweek?"

Tweek shook nervously, nodding meekly. "Y-yeah..."

One of the others nudged the first guy. "Told ya that was him. What did I tell ya?"

"Yeah, yeah, he gets it, shut up." The third guy muttered. The first guy kept on staring at Tweek. It was a little freaky, to be honest. A little...stalkerish.

"What's up with you?" He finally asked, looking at him up and down.

Tweek jerked, almost shrieking. "Wh-what?"

The other gestured to him. "The shaking. What's up with that; why're you doing it?"

The blond peeked around anxiously, to no use. There was no one around to save him, not that anyone would anyway. He peered back at the guy staring at him. "Um...I-I drink a lot of -_ngh_- c-coffee, it m-makes me twitch."

The fourth guy looked astounded. "You're not on crack?"

Tweek's jaw dropped, he felt the unintentional insult stab his already fragile heart. "No!" He squeaked. "I-I'm not on crack! I d-don't -_ngh-_ do drugs!"

"Oh." They all looked away; clearly they had all been under the same impression. Tweek felt horrible. Surely none of the guys he had gone to elementary school would believe that, but was that what everyone else thought? That he was doing drugs, or some other terrible thing to twitch? That was crazy! Drugs messed you up, they didn't let you think right, and if you couldn't think right, how could you fight the _underwear gnomes_?

The first guy brought Tweek's attention back to him. "So...if Tucker wasn't supplying you with drugs, why'd you do it?"

"What? D-drugs? Craig?"

The other had the grace to look sheepish. "Well, yeah...people are saying that the only reason you jumped in was 'cause Tucker was your drug connection...and you couldn't let him get hurt or anything..."

Tweek sputtered, unable to produce a response. What kind of stupidity was that? Drugs? Craig giving him _drugs_? That was the craziest thing he had ever heard, and he had heard some pretty crazy things, all from his own mind! The guys were staring at him now, awaiting a response, and Tweek finally managed a squeaky, "N-No! Craig's nice, I did it -_ngh-_ 'cause h-he's nice!"

The third guy snorted contemptuously. "Nice? That bastard ain't nice. Didn't you hear how he got that mask of his?"

"H-huh?" Tweek was astounded. Did these guys know how he got it? Really? Could they tell him? "H-how?"

He leaned in closer, looking around slyly. "He was running to join some gang up in Denver, but they had a little...initiation ritual, you know?" Tweek was eagerly hanging onto every word, his thermos held in tight hands. "He had to go into enemy territory and 'pop a few', you know what I mean? But things went wrong, and he got his jaw shot off! That's why he wears that thing!"

"_OhmyGod!_" Tweek shrieked. "_R-really?_" Craig was in a _gang?_ And he got his jaw shot off? Jesus Christ, he was even more dangerous than he thought! Oh God, how could he have hung out with him? He paled a little. What if, now that he had pissed him off, Craig put him on a hit list and Russian mobsters came after his beautiful, wonderful _life?_

"No, no, no, that's not how he got it." The fourth guy piped up. "That's just a rumor." Tweek breathed sigh of relief. "I know how he really started wearing it." The guy looked to Tweek as he began what he had heard down the grapevine. "Tucker always hated talking, right? He thought it was unnecessary or whatever. So one day, he's all alone at home, and he just gets so fucking tired of it all he takes a needle and some string, and he _sewed his lips shut_."

Tweek couldn't even breathe at this point, shaking so much he almost dropped his thermos. The guy took in his expression and nodded somberly, going on, "I hear he wears the mask to hide the scars because the string wounds got infected, and they had to surgically remove his lips."

"_Ngh_, seriously?" Tweek breathed in amazement.

The first guy interrupted the fourth as he was about to talk. "Y'all are a bunch of idiots, none of that is true. Everybody knows his father was beating him at home, and it got so bad he shattered his jaw in six places, and then burned his face with the stove. Just flattened his mouth straight on the hot burner. It's all crooked and scarred now, so he wears the mask to hide it."

"I heard he tried to commit suicide and screwed it up, so now he had a hole in his jaw and tongue from where he put the gun, and even one on the top of his head where the bullet burst out." The second guy casually interjected. "The only reason you can't see the head one is because of his hair and hat. And the other two...well, obviously the mask hides 'em."

The blond's mind and thoughts were flipping out all over the place. So many things! So much stuff to consider! Were any of them true? None of them? Oh God, which was it? This was only getting him more confused! What was the real deal here? What was Craig really hiding?

"Well, it doesn't matter!" The third guy snorted. "That Tucker's as far from a nice person as you can get, Tweek." The others nodded and agreed. He looked over the coffee-lover all the way up and down. "He's not nice. You shouldn't do that kind of stuff for him again."

"W-what?"

"Yeah, it's not fair to the rest of us." The second complained. "He's got the entire school running around terrified of his ass, and suddenly he's got others on his side? It's just not fair. The last thing that guy needs is backup."

"Mmhm." The fourth agreed. "If anything, he needs to get his ass kicked, and badly. Hell, we could do it if we got enough guys. Make sure that bastard doesn't go around like he owns the fucking school anymore."

Tweek was starting to get a little scared. This was turning into more than a friendly discussion...this guys were starting to look a little angry now... "H-he doesn't do that!" He peeped up defensively. "Craig is n-nice, he wouldn't -_ngh-_ a-act like that!"

The second guy stared him down, a cold look in his eye. "Oh yeah, we got ourselves a little Tucker defense going on around here. I don't believe for shit he's nice. What'd he do for you, huh? For real? What'd he give you...money? A fucking blowjob?"

Tweek flushed in both embarrassment and rising anger. "_No!_ He's m-my friend! _Ngh,_ that's why!"

They all stared at him in surprise. "Oh, so he's your friend, now?" One of them leaned forward, prodding Tweek in the chest. "Tucker doesn't. Have. Friends. You got it?" Another prod. "He doesn't have friends, or allies, or people to talk to. It's his fault they all avoid him, so to hell if he can find one person to like him for the bitch he is." Another prod, harder this time. "_You got it?_"

The coffee-addict frowned, pushing the finger away with his thermos. "No, I-I don't -_augh-_ 'got it'."

The first guy, the ringleader of the group, gave him a pitying glance. "Tsk, tsk, Tweek, I thought you were a friend, a good guy, someone who listens to sense...but it turns out you're just a traitor to the rest of us." He looked over to the rest of his group. "And you know what happens to traitors." They all nodded grimly, and Tweek felt his heart stutter. Sweet Jesus in heaven, what were they gonna do to him? Were his fears gonna come true? Were they going to rip him apart and sell his organs on the _blac__k market?_ They stepped a little closer and Tweek suddenly noticed that he was very much outnumbered. This wasn't like the last fight. The numbers had been closer, and Craig had been on his side, but not anymore, and certainly not now. They had cut off all escape routes, and now they were closing in...Tweek was effectively doomed. Angry faces filled his vision and a hand reached toward him; Tweek shudderingly braced himself, preparing himself for the coming fight and the excuses he would give his parents for the bruises once he got home.

But it wasn't to be.

A hand came to grip the shoulder of the guy in the very back, the third one, and someone cleared their throat to speak in a very familiar monotone voice.

"You guys need something with Tweek?"

Every one of the four turned a bloodless white, and they all turned to look at the infamous Craig Tucker, standing behind them all. None of them were short—besides Tweek, but he didn't really count—but Craig had a good couple of inches over the tallest one, and that certainly helped his aura of intimidation as he fixed them all with a cold, baleful glare. "I asked," he started again in his freezing, contemptuous-yet-still-monotone tone, "if you need something with Tweek here." His eyes narrowed, and the mask teeth snarled. "Well? _Do you?_"

The ringleader recovered first. He cleared his throat, giving off a small laugh. "What? Naw, we were just...talking something over with him, y'know?" The others nodded hurriedly. "But uh...we're done now. You can have him now." The guy's voice cracked a little at the last sentence; he coughed to try and clear it up. "So, see ya, Tweek!" And with that, they scurried off.

Tweek stared after them, a tad bit disbelieving. He looked back at Craig, who was standing there, looking all heroic and awesome—in Tweek's opinion, anyway. The mask teeth had relaxed and his eyes had stopped shooting sparks, so he looked a bit more friendlier now, although Tweek had been right; the mask was seriously freaking him out again. Swallowing down his cold fear, he timidly took a step forward, hoping Craig wasn't still mad and try to pick up where those other guys had left off. "U-um...th-thank you..." He murmured shyly, twisting his thermos in nervous fingers.

The raven glanced toward him, taking off his hat and running a hand through his black hair; Tweek was stunned, he had never seen Craig without his hat in school, only at his house, and he'd never thought he would actually do it in public. Craig put his hat on again and gave him another look-over, piercing eyes taking in everything. "You alright?"

"Yeah..." Tweek admitted, glancing down. He wasn't sure what to say now. Should he apologize? What should he say, or do?

...should he bring up the rumors about the mask? Ask for himself...what really happened? Tweek thought that might be overstepping the boundaries just a little bit...especially seeing as he still wasn't certain where they were on the friendship scale.

Craig beat him to speaking, sighing a bit. "Come over to my house again after school, okay?"

Tweek nodded silently, unable to do anything else, and besides, this offer was a good sign, right? Right? Craig nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. I'll see you later then." And then he too turned and walked off down the hall, leaving Tweek alone and wondering if this was really such a good development. Especially when he was still wondering...

...what exactly was under Craig Tucker's mask?

* * *

**A/N:** Arghhh, it's been awhiiiiile...but I hope you guys like it :D Kudos to my lovely friend **xNymph** who is THE BEST and keeps me up late at night with RP's and texts xD I love you, girl!

Anyway, I hope I'm keeping you guys happy, and to those of you who are still waiting for a SMH update, it's coming, I swear to you! Bear with me for a little longer!

Umm, my interwebs is also in question now...so, it's a little infrequent that I have it, and technically I don't ACTUALLY have it. Basically, updates might be even SLOWER if that's possible *tears* Sorry! *sniffles* thanks so much for putting up with meeeee, I love all of my readers and reviewers, and you guys...y-you guys keep me *high-pitched voice* soooo happy! *breaks down sobbing*


	5. Unmasked

**AN: **Why, hello, there, readers. Quick, guess who I am. Did you guess Nightie? Wrong. No, her internet hates her, so I, Cynical B. Itch, am updating for her. I haven't touched anything, so all the credit still goes to her. Well, I added the lines with her direction. OH, and Nightie has graced y'all with a challege. She has placed three song lyrics in here and one random sentence. If you are the brilliant mind who finds them, you get a yummy Creek story. So… let the hunt commence!

**Disclaimer:** Yes. We own South Park. That is why we post on FF and South Park is a gay orgy-fest… Wait a second!

* * *

**Part Four:  
Unmasked**

Tweek's mind was running wild all through the rest of the school day, and so was his heart; the looks hadn't stopped and neither had the whispers. In fact, they had kind of gotten a little worse. All it had taken was a couple of loose lips and twenty minutes and soon everybody in the school seemed to know that Tweek had been on the verge of getting his ass kicked before the infamous Craig Tucker stepped in and scared the others away.

It was official, it seemed: for whatever reason, Tweek Tweak and Craig Tucker were 'friends', or at the very least, allies who had each other's back. Or drug runners. Now it was tantamount suicide to talk to either of them. Tweek, well, for having the crazy freak of a raven on his side who'd hunt you down in the middle of the night with a rusty machete, and Craig...the reasons for him being avoided were pretty obvious and needed no repetition. And thus the mutters and looks were getting to be even worse.

It wasn't all that bad, really. There were some people in the school who actually admired this Tweek Tweak. He himself was pretty well-known, if only for the fact that everyone thought he was on crack and had almost violent outbursts in class and in the hallways. But even then, he was ignored; no one cared about a guy like him, and when he wasn't screaming and shrieking, he was one of the crowd, a normal wallflower no one paid any attention to. Now, people were starting to take notice of him. He was on speaking terms with THE Craig Tucker, had defended him and vice versa; this, the raven-headed guy that would sooner rip your head off or send you to the hospital than give you a second glance. Tweek Tweak must have some balls on him, went the whispers. He had to be strong, or just crazy enough to associate with Craig and get along. Tweek Tweak was _special_.

People were saying that the blond was the only one who knew besides Craig himself what lay under that mask of his.

Which really wasn't true, he was just as clueless as the rest of them. Nonetheless...some people...were starting to_ respect_ Tweek, to admire him and equate him with the ever fickle idea of popularity.

To Tweek though, all he saw were the stares and mutters, which just freaked him out further. He was glad to escape school that day, and ran out of the campus like his butt was on fire.

Panting, he slowed down only when he was in view of his father's coffee shop, clutching his thermos like it was the Holy Grail of protection. God, he could practically see the vultures now! Cannibal birds in the guise of humans, just waiting to EAT HIM ALIVE!

Tweek finally reached the building, laying a hand against it to rest as he tried to catch his breath. He didn't think he could have lasted another minute in that creepy school, with people staring at him from every direction, their mutters and whines coming at him from every direction. The stress, the pressure, was _way_ too much!

And he still had to go over to Craig's house later that day...Tweek shuddered, whimpering a little bit. He didn't think he could do it. It was good, right, that Craig had invited him over? It meant they could become friends again! It would have seemed like that, but when Tweek thought about it more closely, it was all a ploy! A trick to get him alone and feed him to giant killer guinea pigs for daring to defy his wrath! Oh God, he didn't want to turn into a GIANT POOP PELLET!

...his mind invisibly rolled its eyes. Don't screw this up! It chastened. This is our chance to make a truce with him so we don't get our skin ripped off!

_Oh, God, he'll rip off my skin if I don't go?_ Tweek howled inwardly. _But my organs will fall out! I'LL DIE!_

Exactly why you have to go! Even if it is a trap!

_But if it's a trap, I'll die anyway! Either thing I choose, I DIE! __I'm not ready to die yet!_

His mind mulled this over. If he wanted you to die, then why'd he save you from getting your ass pounded onto the ground? It had a good point, Tweek supposed. But he had an even better one.

_Because he wanted to kill me himself, duh!_ He shrieked, shaking his thermos up and down in his bursting fear. His mind sighed in resignation, its invisible shoulders slumping.

You're right. You're gonna die. It said morosely, head hanging down. You might as well go kiss your parents goodbye now, 'cuz they'll never find your body.

Tweek moaned in despair, hand leaving the wall to fist in his hair. It was all too much; he didn't want to die, but there was no way that Craig wanted to be his friend again, not after this morning and their horrible misunderstanding. If he didn't go, Craig would rip off his skin and kill him, but if he _did_ go, then Craig would just slash his throat and feed him to his monster guinea pig anyway and he'd die!

What if Craig was already waiting for him? Tweek hadn't gone to help out in his parent's coffee shop while he was on his little 'vacation'; Craig wouldn't know that Tweek worked there afternoons after school, would he? No, he wouldn't! What if he was pacing his room, getting angrier by the minute, thinking that Tweek had skipped out on him? That wouldn't help his feeling toward Tweek at all! And the angrier he got, the more homicidal he'd be, until he'd come and search him out with the pure intention of _ripping out his STILL-BEATING HEART!_ WITH HIS BARE HANDS!

He'd search and search, but it wouldn't take too long to find him, because now that Tweek thought about it, Craig's house wasn't far from the coffee shop, and then he'd see him, leaning against this wall like he had nowhere else to be and then grab him and turn him around and—!

A hand dropped onto his shoulder and Tweek screamed high enough to make Justin Beiber turn green with envy, body freezing up as he jumped two feet into the air. A familiar voice met his ears.

"Son, did you drink enough coffee today? You're jumpy!"

Tweek turned around, sighing in relief when he only saw his father. He flushed, trying to sputter out some kind of excuse. No use for his dad to know that he was worried for his life today and some ravenous raven-headed killer was out for his _blood and guts_ as they spoke. "Oh -_ngh-_ h-hi...I, um...was j-just -_augh-_ k-k-kidding?"

His father beamed at him. "Ah, you little joker, you!" Tousling his son's blond hair, the man chortled, going into his shop and leaving Tweek outside. Tweek just stared after him, wondering just how dense parents could be. Shrugging desolately, he shuffled inside, twitching nervously. Craig probably had enough sense not to try to go after him in such a public place...right? Yeah...of course...

The time of his shift passed by quickly, and soon Tweek was staring up at the clock with a miserable expression, thinking forlornly that there were still so many more coffee flavors to try out...with a heavy heart he took off his apron, hanging it up on the hook in the backroom and waving goodbye to his father as he exited the shop and started toward Craig's house. He was right; it wasn't far at all, and in the midst of pondering just why he hadn't been jumped on the way here by a crazy raven-headed homicidal killer he arrived at the front door.

_Should I really do this?_ He thought quiveringly. _Maybe I should just go home and pretend I'm not there. Or...just run away! Yeah, I could run away to someplace and he'd never be able to find me!_

But Craig is a ninja, his thoughts very rationally reminded him. No matter where you go, it will never be far enough. Ninjas can find anyone anywhere!

_Arrghhh!_ Tweek smacked his head against the wooden door, and yelped at the sting of pain it resulted in, when the door opened, revealing Craig's mother. She cast a look over him, eyebrow raised.

"Knocking on doors with your head? That's new."

Tweek offered up a tiny smile, twitching anxiously. Obviously she must not know about her son's serial killer-ness hiding out inside of him. She rolled her eyes, letting him in. "Well, it's good you're here, maybe you can find out what the hell is up with the brat upstairs; he's been a pissy little bitch all day." Her voice was rough, but Tweek thought he saw a little bit of worriedness in her face as she looked away. Yup, she was a good mother...in her own, strange, weird way.

But right now the blond was more curious about what she had said. Craig...being a pissy little bitch? Well, that didn't fit in with his image of a homicidal badass killer at all. Had he been wrong about what Craig planned to do with him in his room? Maybe...he wasn't going to die after all! Tweek felt the rush of hope jump in him but quashed it down, settling for a nervous glance in the direction of upstairs and shuffling toward the stairs. He couldn't be too hopeful after all, because ninjas were sneaky little creatures and could fool the pants off of anyone with their amazing acting. He had to be _veeeery_ careful...he had to be sneakier than a friggen' _ninja_!

Reaching the second level, Tweek glanced around hesitantly, trying to see around corners and watch out for any murderous ravens. But nothing jumped out at him, and so he inched forward, tiptoeing nervously toward Craig's room, where uncertain death faced him.

Stopping outside the closed bedroom door, he bit his lip, clenching his fingers on his thermos and sending up a prayer to whatever deity had allowed him to live this long that he wouldn't be killed just yet. He had things to do with his life, goddammit! But anyway... taking a deep breath, he timidly knocked on the wood, and when he heard no answer, carefully turned the knob and peeked in.

The ninja that was supposed to kill him, Craig Tucker, was lying slouched on his bed, studiously keeping his eyes on the screen of his television as he stabbed buttons on his controller, the cable which snaked out between his open knees. Their eyes met for a second, Tweek's wide and fearful, and Craig's dark and cold, before the raven's slid away back to the screen. Tweek frowned worriedly. Maybe it wasn't too late to try to patch things up? Craig didn't look like he was in the mood to kill him anyway, right now...

A grunt drew Tweek's attention, and he looked to see Craig gesturing to the part of the bed beside him, obviously telling him to sit down on it. The blond gave a start but complied, carefully lifting each foot to step over Craig's controller cable and not tangle his feet in it and trip and _fall _and smash his _brains out _on Craig's messy floor and cause the guy to get angry and RIP OUT HIS LUNGS IN THE _BLOODY EAGLE_!

Heart thudding horribly fast as he reached the bed unharmed and unkilled, Tweek perched himself on the edge, peeking back at Craig to see if he wanted something else. Indeed he did; the raven prodded the space right by the wall where he was, and Tweek slid back, trying to preserve his life by just a little bit longer. He fidgeted for a second, wondering what to do next, when a controller was tossed at him, making him squeak in surprise. Glancing over at Craig, he saw the raven quit the game he was currently on and switch it to two player, which explained why the controller had been thrown at him. Tweek looked down at the plastic in his lap, hesitantly putting his thermos to the side and picking up the controller with two fingers like it was a dead poisonous spider.

Craig gave a tiny snort but didn't say anything, and Tweek flushed, holding the controller the right way in his two hands as Craig started a new game—which happened to be another one of those racing games of his.

The time that passed was awkward, to say the absolute very least. Tweek continued to play by Craig's side, and got his ass handed to him on a plate thanks to the raven's superior skills. They were silent the entire time, besides the typical squeaks and twitches that only Tweek could make. That, and the quiet groans he made when he was half an inch from winning...until Craig came in out of nowhere and beat his butt soundly for first place.

Tweek didn't understand this. They were supposed to be making up or something...right? Like, this was the time they would explain each's side of what had happened, and Craig would realize that Tweek was only afraid of others and certainly not ashamed of him and they would be friends again. But this...this silence was certainly not something that he had expected. Was he supposed to start the conversation? Or would Craig be the one to do it? What was the protocol on stuff like this?

Looking over to the raven playing silently by his side, Tweek shuddered a bit. Craig wasn't wearing his hoodie, but he did have his hat on, and it hid the edges of the mask and where they came together on the back of his head to tie together. It added an aura of unapproachability to the guy, and Tweek had no problems imagining those same teeth snapping at his flesh and snarling at him while stained blood-red. What he could see of Craig's face didn't look too eager for friendly small talk either. His eyes had never looked at Tweek since he had sat down, and they were fixed on only the television screen, hard and glaring. He had on a scowl, Tweek could tell, which hadn't left at all since he'd entered the room and only freaked the blond out even more. What was Craig so angry about? If he was really so angry, why hadn't he tried something on Tweek yet? Was he just waiting for the right moment? For the time when Tweek would think that everything was somewhat okay and Craig wouldn't rip out his throat and fall into a false sense of security and relax his guard so then the other could strike and _smash his skull against the freakin' WALL?_

It was a scary thought, and one that kept Tweek on his metaphorical toes, snatching peeks and glances of his supposed friend while he got his ass whooped on the racing game. He didn't think he could relax at all, what with the tense atmosphere around them both. Tweek didn't see why Craig hadn't kicked him out yet, if anything. He wasn't much understanding what was going on around him, and he certainly didn't get this at all.

It also wasn't helping that his thoughts were also being consumed by his _raging_ curiosity, which had been fueled by those bullies he had encountered earlier that day at school. Tweek desperately wanted to know what Craig had under that mask of his, if only to put his fears to rest. Those rumors...none of them could be real, right? But if they were, which was one of them was true? Was Craig really a cold-blooded gang member, an apathetic sociopath, a victim of abuse, a failed suicide attempt? Was he any of these? Just what was he hiding so dedicatedly under that piece of cloth? And because it was Craig, because it was this badass raven-haired ninja that Tweek had had the pleasure of knowing for a couple of days, it made this wildfire of curiosity even worse, because whatever Craig was hiding—and he was definitely using that mask to hide something—it had to be big, it had be utterly shocking and worthy of him...it had to be really, _really _bad. But how to bring it up? Even in the time they had known each other, Craig had made no move or mention as to when, if ever, he had been planning to let Tweek in on his secret and reveal just what he was hiding. Should he ask? Was he even allowed to? Were they even friends enough, had they repaired their relationship by this silent, awkward meeting that he could ask in good faith that he wouldn't get sliced in half by one of those ninja swords hanging on Craig's wall?

He was left to ponder just what, if anything, he should do, and whether he should start off things first, or if he should wait for Craig to do it. But he left it just a little too long...

There was a creak and a thunk as Craig's door opened, revealing the raven's mother.

"If you're not comin' down to eat, at least tell me so I don't haveta work my ass off and cook for you as well as every other—" She paused at Tweek's startled shriek, looking over at the two of them sitting on Craig's bed. She scowled, glaring at Craig. "What is he still doing here? It's dark out, did you even think of how dangerous it is to let someone like_ him_ walk home alone in the dark?"

"W-what?" Tweek squeaked fearfully, completely ignoring the insinuated insult and dropping the controller. "D-d-dark? It's dark?" Snatching at his thermos, he lunged off of the bed, nearly tripping over himself as he stumbled onto the ground. If he listened really, really hard, he could just barely hear the faint echo of crickets playing their music outside. Oh God, it really was dark! Serial killers and old man perverts were prowling around by now! NO, NOT THE OLD MAN _PERVERTS!_ He had to get to the safety of his home right _now!_

"_Ngh-arghh!_ !" And with that eloquently spoken garble of mush, he took off into the hallway and somehow managed not to trip over his feet on the stairs like the other time—it seemed the trick was speed; whatever speed you were going at, to not slow down when you hit the stairs or that hesitation would make you lose your step and possibly your ability to walk; that, and some balance wouldn't hurt either—and darted down to the front door. Out of the corner of his eye during his rush, he barely caught the merest glimpse of an orange-haired man and a middle-school girl sitting at a table in what he could see of the kitchen, but then he was out of the door, slamming it behind himself as he took off down the street, which was actually really dark by now.

And the air was rent by terrified shrieks as Tweek jumped at every shadow that moved, and once as he was chased by one of those damn old man perverts("_Auugh, dammit l-leave me alone!_"), before he finally reached the safety of his house and ran squealing to his room.

* * *

_"Tweek, I have something to show you."_

_"W-what?"_

_"Let me show you."_

_"Okay."_

_Craig leaned back a little from where he sat on Tweek's bed and sighed, looking at the blond piercingly, as if trying to find something in hazelnut depths. Tweek stared back at him, hoping that whatever Craig was looking for, that he found it in Tweek. Apparently he did, because he looked slightly more satisfied, and started to speak. "I didn't want anyone to see, 'cause I knew what they'd think. I'm not an idiot, I know what they say about me."_

_"I-In school? The -_ngh-_ r-rumors?"_

_"Yeah." The raven scowled, and the mask teeth stretched to form an ugly snarl. Then it relaxed a bit. Tweek noticed the mask was sagging slightly. Was it loose? Craig went on. "But you're okay. You never asked why I had it on."_

_"I was s-scared."_

_"Of what?"_

_"You...b-being mad."_

_"Why?"_

_"You're m-my only -_augh-_ f-friend. I d-didn't want to lose you."_

_Craig's look softened slightly, and he shrugged carelessly, but Tweek could tell he felt a little uncomfortable at the honesty. It was never a pretty thing to have someone call you their only friend and mean it with as much sincerity as Tweek did. But what else could he call the truth? The blond knew that Craig knew that he wasn't lying. Tweek didn't have anyone else._

_"They don't know what they're missing. You're cool. And you make great coffee."_

_"Th-thank you." Tweek blushed. "What d-did you want to sh-show me?"_

_Craig looked away, and this time Tweek noticed that the mask really was sagging, but as if was filled with something heavy. He felt his curiosity rise a little bit, and he wished Craig would take it off for once and just let him see what was under there. The raven looked at him. "I haven't shown anyone in almost two years..."_

_"..." Tweek gave him a startled look as the other reached up and took off his hat, and then stretched his hands to clasp the tied edges of the black mask. No way. Oh no freakin' way. He was actually gonna take it off? His heart started pounding faster and Tweek had to resist the impulse to lean in closer, to get a good look. This was it. The first person to really know what was under there. He had succeeded, Craig really did think he was a friend! Enough to know what was most certainly his greatest secret...oh my God, this was too amazing to be true!_

_"I know you won't care..." Craig said quietly, plucking at the knot. "You're a good person, Tweek."_

_The mask looked more bloated, full of something...Tweek took note of it and for some reason his anticipation withered a bit...maybe it wasn't such a good idea that Craig was taking it off..._

_No! This was what he had been waiting for, right? His curiosity had been nagging and nagging at him, tearing and biting him from the inside and now he was finally going to have some answers! Tweek tried to regain his earlier eagerness, but it all vanished as a black drop fell from the distended cloth, and the puffy thing started to drip more and more black stuff...or was it red? Tweek stared in horror as it splattered on Craig's jeans, blooming dark and bloody on his legs, sliding onto his coffee-colored bedcovers. The swollen, fat mask was slipping, revealing the top of Craig's nose, red lines slipping down the skin as it was unconcealed._

_There was a terror in him now, a fear in Tweek and he leaned forward, hands outstretched as he tried to push the mask back up onto the raven's face but the thing _squished_ in his hands and a flood of blood squirted from the sides, slopping onto Craig's jacket; Tweek shrieked as he snatched his hands back, and whimpered as he saw them dripping warm, red blood, bits of it half-congealed and sticking to the tips of his fingers. The mask's teeth were stained crimson, and they seemed to taunt Tweek's desire for the truth, now a raging desire for Craig to put the mask back _on_._

_Craig didn't seem to notice either the blond's horror or his failed attempt to keep the mask in place, and he continued to pull and nip at the tight knot with his fingers. It was tight; the knot didn't seem to want to release, and for a twisted moment of hope Tweek thought that maybe Craig would just give up and stop messing with it but it wasn't to be..._

_The raven managed to get it loose and murmured one last, quiet, "I know you won't care..." before finally letting go._

_Tweek paled in terrible shock, and he quivered, a frightened squeak stuck in his throat with no hope for release. The mask fell away and thick globs of dark red blood disgorged from the depths of it, splattering on Craig's legs and Tweek's bed, dripping and leaking and running down ripped, unhealed muscle and tissue that was the remnants of Craig's mouth._

_His tongue lolled out from the hole his throat was, onto his neck as he choked and gargled on words Tweek would never understand, and with a scared little whimper the blond realized the torn flesh was only the stump of what once been a jawbone, mangled and snapped off so that nothing remained of it. The raven's tongue twitched and quivered and he made that blood-gurgling noise again; Tweek felt terrified tears flicker on his eyelashes as he tried to move back, but Craig wouldn't let him, he crawled closer and closer, pushing Tweek back until he was crouched over him, dead blank eyes staring through him as Tweek cried underneath him. A soft wet slap sounded as a drooling tongue hit the side of Tweek's face and Craig coughed blood in his crying mouth, a silent whisper running through Tweek's head._

_"...I know you won't care..."_

* * *

Tweek screamed as he lunged up on his bed, flailing in his covers as he smacked at his own face, trying to get off the sick feeling of Craig's tongue _off of him—_

He shrieked and whimpered and fell off his bed with a 'thump', squirming and convulsing on the floor as he felt tears leak from the depths of his closed eyes, hands trembling as he dragged them over his face, sobbing incoherently. Blindly reaching around, he grabbed the edge of his covers and pulled them off of his bed, wrapping himself in them as he cried, trying to chase away the horror and fear he still felt.

Oh God, please, never let him have another dream like that, not something so scary, so sick and utterly _disgusting_...Tweek retched a little but held it all down somehow, resuming his sobs with vigor he didn't know he had. That nightmare...it made all his other fears and nightmares pale in comparison, sweet Jesus, how could he dream of something so _disgustingly terrible?_ Tweek hoped to God that wasn't what Craig was hiding, because he didn't think he could still be friends with the raven if that were true. He felt so scared, so frightened...Tweek felt like throwing up.

"...think he's alright?"

"Poke him and find out."

"Eww, no, let him do it!"

"Aurghhh!"

Little voices made Tweek sniffle and uncurl a bit, suddenly frightened for his life. There was something in his room...oh no, _there was something in his room!_ Was it serial killers? A band of rogue bandits? Oh God, had the coffee thieves gotten in?

Tweek gave a hiccupy squeak as he pushed the covers away, looking up with wide, teary eyes. He could barely see in the pitch-black of his room, but soon his eyes adjusted to the dim light coming in from between his blinds and window, and he took in five little glittery pairs of eyes that looked down at him curiously. Tweek paled.

Gnomes.

And they had him surrounded.

He gave a whimper and tried to press himself further against the wall but it was no use; he had nowhere left to go. The evil little things looked between themselves and exchanged whispers, then one cleared its throat.

"You okay?"

Tweek stared at it in shock. "W-what?"

"You heard me, pussy—I-I mean, Tweek," it cleared its throat again, trying to pass off its verbal slip. "You okay?"

"Um..." the blond sniffled, looking around at them. Well, they didn't _look_ like they were about to kill him... "Y-yeah..."

"Did ya have a nightmare?" One of the others asked. He looked smaller than his companions, most likely younger, and Tweek nodded hesitantly. "Was it bad?" It pressed on.

Tweek shuddered as various images he'd rather not remember popped into his head. "Uh huh."

The gnomes exchanged looks and nodded, muttering amongst themselves. The first one who'd spoken looked at Tweek again. "But you're okay now, right?" Tweek nodded and it gave him a satisfied look, patting the blond's knee. "Good."

Were...were they worried about him? Really? The amazing thought warmed Tweek's heart and he wiped away his tears, snuffling as he sat up straighter, crossing his legs. "Y-you know..." he started shyly, "you guys aren't -_ngh-_ so b-bad...thanks f-for being worried..."

They all blushed and chuckled bashfully, the youngest one scuffing the toe of his shoe on the ground as he chortled. Tweek felt his smile widen and he relaxed a little. They really weren't so bad; they actually looked pretty nice. Wouldn't it be great if they could be friends instead of enemies? Tweek allowed himself to imagine that glorious future without so much fear and panic and maybe even the chance to sleep well at night—which might even help with his paranoia!—when he caught sight of a very familiarly patterned cloth behind one of the gnomes. He focused on it, the smile slipping from his face.

"H-hey...what is that?"

The gnomes all looked and the one in question squeaked and tried to hide it, hands clutching behind himself, but Tweek had already seen it.

"I-Is...is that m-my _underwear? !_"

They scattered and Tweek shrieked, lunging at them. He leapt to his feet, chasing after them but they were gone, out through his door and through whatever secret tunnels they had in his house. Tweek stomped his foot and cursed, shaking at fist at where they had been. Traitors! Sneaky-eyed little bandits! _Dark ninjas!_ He knew they couldn't be trusted, damn them! Tweek grumbled a bit as he closed his door, latching all of the locks on it before going back to his bed, tugging his cover from off of the floor and curling up with it again on his mattress.

He was only there for a couple of seconds before the nightmare started to tug at him again and he whimpered, snuggling in deeper into his covers for protection. God...he shuddered at the terror that flickered at the barest edges of his consciousness.

He'd only come home from his terrifying run through the dark streets of his neighborhood when he'd been confronted by his parents, who were quite pissed but mainly worried about where he had been. But it had been actually pretty easily to placate them; all Tweek said was that he had been at Craig's house and they calmed down, happy that he had been safe at a friend's house. No, the real problem came later, when Tweek was safely within the walls of his room and his mind could take over his body. Tweek had fretted and worried over his silent stay at Craig's house, until he could fret and worry no more. What had it all _meant?_ Not a single word had been exchanged between the two of them, and Craig had still looked angry and pissed throughout the entire thing! It seemed that Tweek's hands would become permanently fisted into his hair as he squirmed on his bed.

What would he say tomorrow? He'd rushed out with that hasty goodbye and hurried, blathered, "See you tomorrow, Craig!", but what exactly would he say tomorrow if he saw him before school? Oh God, school! Tweek moaned as he imagined another day of putting up with those stares and whispers...no, he didn't want to...

But back to Craig, the problem that was much more serious! What would he do about that? There was no way that they had spontaneously fixed their friendship like that, nuh uh! So...if they weren't friends, was Tweek safe? What if more people came to try and beat him up? Would Craig randomly appear like the ninja he was and save him again? What if he didn't? WHAT IF BULLIES SMEARED HIS BRAINS OVER THE SCHOOL _WALLS?_

Tweek was hyperventilating by this point, twisting and squirming and contorting on his sheets until he couldn't take it anymore...and literally worried himself to sleep.

Well, it was really all the hyperventilating, which had approached levels that even Tweek himself rarely reached, and had lowered the amount of carbon dioxide so much in his blood his brain had shut him down to prevent possible death.

Basically, he fainted.

But anyway. He had literally worried himself to sleep, and Tweek sternly reminded himself never to do _that_ again, because it brought some _damn _creepy-ass nightmares along with it. Shuddering again, he relaxed somewhat, and took himself by surprise by yawning. Oh...look at that...he was actually _sleepy_ for once in his life. Well, he mused, the same nightmare had never plagued him twice, so it must be at least a little safe to go to sleep...or at the very least, safe from that damned nightmare he'd had. Tweek wanted to panic and think about it some more but he couldn't focus; all of his body was screaming at him to just shut up and sleep and he closed his eyes reluctantly, curling up in his covers.

At least the gnomes only came once a night, he comforted himself before finally dropping off again.

* * *

Tweek flew down the stairs, shirt askew and thermos bouncing in his grip as he tried to juggle both a backpack and button his pants all at once, squealing in teenage angst.

"I'M _LAAAAAATE!_" He wailed, somehow reaching the last step unharmed, and his mother's voice floated out from the kitchen.

"Oh sweetie, you looked so peaceful asleep, your father couldn't bear to wake you. You can just walk to school, can't you? It's not far..."

Tweek tossed his hands in the air in exasperation and accidentally sent his thermos and backpack flying in opposite directions. Howling at his mistake, he finished fixing his pants and darted after his stuff, finally getting everything in order as he said a hurried goodbye to his mom and ran out the door. Yeah, the elementary and middle schools weren't far from their house, but the high school was a lot farther away than that, and he'd have to run all the way just to make it in time for the first bell. Tweek shook his thermos up and down in frustration as he began running, howling his frustrations to the heavens.

What a great way to start the morning...and he hadn't even made Craig's coffee—not that he'd had the time to do it, really—to try and gently persuade him with awesome coffee powers back to the side of friendshipness! Now that he thought about it, there was no way that'd he'd have time to meet Craig anyway, although whether that was a good or bad thing, he didn't know.

Oh God, what if it was _baaaaaad?_ Another howling shriek and Tweek darted through an intersection, nearly getting run over by a speeding semi, ninja-leaping onto the other sidewalk and finishing it off with a perfectly executed roll.

Phht, he wished; Tweek screamed like a girl and jumped out of the way, nearly falling flat on his face as he reached the sidewalk, scurrying away like a puppy with its tail between its legs.

It wasn't long before he reached the school, and Tweek giggled almost hysterically as he realized that people were still milling around calmly, and not like the rushing stampede it would be if the bell had rung already. Clearly, he had arrived on time. The blond paused at the gate to catch his breath, puffing and heaving as he tried to calm the angry red flush that had appeared on his cheeks somewhere around the latter half of his run.

And the bell rang.

Screaming, Tweek jumped up and ran across the courtyard, too hurried to really notice the looks people gave him as they realized who it was, and sped toward the buildings, racing to get to his first class. As he darted across the crowded space, he noticed a flash of familiar black and blue at the corner of his eye, but he was too far gone in a second to see who or what it was, and it escaped his mind as he reached the inside of the first building.

Oh well. It was probably nothing anyway.

* * *

Tweek stared with infinite boredom at the clock hanging on the wall, eyes glazed over and hands twitching slightly as his head rested on them. They were supposed to be working on a worksheet the teacher had passed out earlier, but Tweek had finished that _ages_ ago—it had never actually struck Tweek that he was smarter than average; he was _way_ too worried to think about dumb things like that, when he could be thinking about useful things...like gnomes!—and now here he was. Bored out of his mind, with nothing else left to do. And he didn't even start doing homework unless it was pitch black outside and he knew he wouldn't be interrupted. So...he had absolutely nothing to do except wait for the bell to ring and release them for lunch. On the outside, he was bored and lethargic...

...but on the inside, he was running around squealing and bumping into random brain-neurons.

He hadn't seen Craig today in the morning. Obviously, as he had been too busy running to avoid being late to his first period class, but he hadn't seen him or given him his customary coffee. And now that he had had a couple periods to think about it, what if Craig got it into his head that he was avoiding him? That he really didn't want to be friends again at ALL, and didn't want anything to do with him? Noo! All of his work, all of the fear he had gone through to get to this point would be in _VAIN!_ And then Craig would hate him and try to catch him in the mornings just to kick his ass and grind his face into the dirt! Tweek stifled a shriek inside of his mind. Not the dirt! HE'D GET RINGWORMS! _ARRGHHHH!_

But what could he do about it at this point? He didn't know what classes the raven had, and even if he sucked up enough bravery to search him out and somehow had the knowledge of where he was right now, Tweek didn't have anything to placate the other with; no olive branch, no peace treaty, no _coffee_ to symbolize his _goodwill and grace!_ The blond squealed an unhappy and frustrated squeal as he bounced back against a particularly hard neuron stretched across his brain, and squirmed on the squishy floor, wishing he had some kind of magical solution to his 'friend' problems.

He really _did_ want to be friends with Craig. The raven was super cool and awesome, and besides the newly-born fear his nightmare had given him earlier that morning about that damned mask, Tweek really had liked hanging out with him. Craig gave him a sort of peace; by having a friend he could rely on, or really just by having one at all, Tweek could relax a bit. He was a little more safer in the knowledge that he had someone on his side, someone who wouldn't just abandon him and throw him to the dogs...someone who could protect him. It was nice, and it made Tweek feel good to think that he had someone like that. Or...had _had_ someone like that, before the misunderstanding between Craig and himself. But in all honesty, and if Tweek was anything, he was very honest, he missed Craig. He didn't want to have to worry about this anymore, he wanted his friend again. He wanted Craig back. That was what he really wanted. But...he had no idea how to do that.

The bell for lunch rang and Tweek was jolted from his racing thoughts, just in time to see everyone else lunge up and race for the door. Yup, everyone hated worksheets. Tweek didn't really see why, they were really easy...

Shrugging the thought aside, the coffee-lover waited for a bit before picking up his stuff and making his way to the door, peering out cautiously. Those looks hadn't stopped one smidgen of a bit today, but Tweek was too preoccupied in thinking about how to fix his problems with Craig and even if they _could_ be fixed and whether or not he would be left friendless and with one more potential enemy to face in the morning as he was all alone and defenseless to really _notice_ the people and their stares and glares and whispers. So...it was better? In a way, he supposed.

But now, as he peeked around the almost empty hallways for any signs of an angry mob coming to burn him ALIVE AT THE STAKE, he saw nothing and sighed in relief, edging out timidly. He encountered nothing too dangerous on the way to the courtyard and emerged outside blinking innocently into the bright light of the wide world outside, peeping his blooming kitten-like curiosity...

Nah, he just burst through those double-doors as fast as he could and scurried to his usual spot before anyone could really understand what had just happened, sitting down and using his backpack like a shield to the outside. Tweek sighed, reaching a hand inside his stuff and feeling around to find nothing, food-like.

What?

Tweek let out a disappointed whimper as he realized he hadn't brought along any kind of snack to eat today, and sighed, slouching down in his spot. Okay then, he'd have to wait until he got to his parent's coffee shop to really eat anything today...pouting, the blond rooted around in his backpack again for something else to distract him and keep him busy until the lunch period ended. His fingers dug under balled-up papers and old folders—yes, Tweek had a bit of a messy backpack, go figure—and brushed against something cold and hard and rectangular. He felt his curiosity perk up its eager head. Oooh, what was this? It was already in his backpack, so it couldn't be anything dangerous...he pulled it out and squeaked in pleasant shock, gripping the thing tightly.

It was his old Zune! The good old ones, not the weird new ones they had now... But wow, Tweek hadn't seen this thing in _months_...he'd thought he'd lost it forever! Making a useless promise to clean out his bag when he had the time, which was never going to happen, Tweek turned it on and was pleased to find it still had half the battery left. Sweet!

Tweek pulled out the headphones still trailing into the inner depths of his backpack-abyss and tugged them into his hand, pushing the earbuds into his ears. Wow, this felt a little strange, seeing as it had been so long...shy fingers pushed the buttons and Tweek turned down the volume a little bit, peeking back up to make sure nobody was using this chance to try and sneak up on him and STEAL HIS FACE! Then, all of a sudden, a bear came up behind him and smacked him against a wall! D:

No, that was just a crazy vision of his and Tweek heard an alternating cello and viola beat start in his ears before drums joined in, and a familiar song began.

'_I need an alarm system in my house, so I know when people are creeping about; these people are freaking me out (these days). It's getting hectic everywhere that I go; they won't leave me alone; the things they all want to know._' The very appropriate lyrics ran through Tweek's mind and he relaxed, sinking down low as he grinned a little twistedly. Never had a song called out to him so much; he could very definitely relate to it. God, he loved this song! It was practically telling him he wasn't alone! '_I'm paranoid of all the people I meet; why are they talking to me? And why can't anyone see?_' The blond wondered how many other people in the world could instantly relate to this and he giggled a little bit, imagining others like him in a sort of Woodstock thing. Smiling wider, he leaned back against the wall he sat by, letting the music soothe his rattled nerves. Now he remembered why he missed his Zune so much, because it helped to take his mind off of things when he got too worried or too paranoid.

'_I tremble...they're gonna eat me alive...if I stumble...they're gonna eat me alive..._' Oh, Tweek hadn't even noticed the song changing...damn, this music really did help him relax! How awesome was this? '_Help, I'm alive; my heart keeps beating like a hammer...beating like a hammer..._'

Tweek was fully into his happy la-la land, which wasn't such a good thing when something large and blue dropped down next to him. He shrieked in unholy terror, sending all of his stuff scattering—including his newly-found Zune and backpack (for the second time that day) (...poor thing) to his right, his headphones following the Zune and popping out of his ears—as he scrambled and flailed to drop onto his right side, at the mercy of whatever was next to him now.

A very familiar snort met his hearing and Tweek looked back over his shoulder to see Craig settling into the hard slant of the wall, giving the blond an 'are you serious' look. The look that Tweek had come to associate with the translation into Craig-speak as "Dude, fuckin' _chill_."

Tweek pushed himself up to sit right, reaching out to pick up his stuff from the ground while his mind flew into a whirl. Oh my God, Craig was here! He was actually sitting here! But why? What could the raven possibly have to gain from somebody that he surely thought had abandoned him so horribly in the morning and didn't bring him any COFFEE! Tweek thought it would take away from his purpose of making Craig his friend again if he ran screaming off in another direction out of confusion and somewhat fear, so he stayed where he was, twittery and twitchy and feeling like he would explode out of sheer nervousness if someone just_ looked _at him the wrong way. Which could actually happen; there were so many _people_ STARING AT THEM SITTING TOGETHER!

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tweek realized this was not going to help with those looks and mutters.

The jittery blond clutched his stuff to his chest tightly as he cast a nervous glance to the raven, and squeaked as their eyes met. But surprisingly, Craig looked away quickly, before even Tweek could do it, crossing his arms tightly in a huff.

"Freakin' place is too damn crowded..." came the low mutter, and Tweek blinked, a tiny flush crossing his cheeks at the obvious excuse. Did...did this mean they were okay? Were they friends again? Tweek felt his heart stutter and leap hopefully in his chest as he lifted his thermos—somehow still stuck between the tight grip of his legs—and dug into his backpack, pulling out a straw and dropping it in the thermos before offering it to Craig, his peeping voice shy and optimistic. "W-want some coffee?"

Craig looked over to him a little reluctantly, casting his gaze down to the proffered drink. "...yeah." And he reached over and took it, taking a small slurping sip from under his mask. Tweek felt like his heart would burst right then and there. They were _totally_ friends again! The raven handed the thermos back and looked marginally happier, or at least not willing to rip someone's face off anymore. He cleared his throat.

"You were late today?"

Tweek looked at him incredulously, amazed at his stores of ninja knowledge. "...y-yeah, my dad didn't -_ngh-_ wake me u-up. How did you kn-know?"

Craig got that twinkle in his eye and the mask pulled up at the corners a bit, giving Tweek a familiar if slightly creepy and alarming smile. "Saw you screaming your head off trying to get to first period in the morning."

The blond blushed, kneading his fists in the hem of his shirt. Ah...well, not so much ninja-ness as just following the screams then. So _that_ had been the black and blue blur he had seen from the corner of his eyes on the courtyard; it had been Craig! Breaking from his thoughts, he looked up and squeaked as he saw that they had attracted a sort of crowd. No one was actually pointedly staring at them, but there seemed to be a large amount of people on their side of the courtyard, more so than normal, and it was eerily quiet as people cast somewhat surreptitious glances their way, clearly trying to hear their conversation. Some of these people had never heard the infamous Craig Tucker speak, after all...said raven followed Tweek's gaze and scowled darkly, snarling at them all and causing them to scatter like roaches...to at least a minimum distance of 30 feet, anyway, way more safe and leaving them in relative privacy to continue their conversation unheard as the normal volume of the courtyard resumed—maybe even a little louder, as something amazing had just been witnessed: Tweek letting someone other than himself drink from the thermos that no one else had ever even touched; it was now concrete, could-not-be-disputed fact that Tweek and Craig were buddies. The scandal of it all!

Tweek gaped at Craig's amazing prowess and turned a grin toward him, scooting just a bit closer so he could be enveloped in the full bubble of Craig's protectiveness. The other flipped off the entire courtyard as a last parting shot before turning his attention back to Tweek, reaching over to ruffle his hair—Tweek, being used to this little sign of strange affection from the masked raven(of all people), smiled happily, sipping his coffee. "Damn people don't know how to stay out of other people's business..." Craig muttered, and met Tweek's wondering eyes. "Why'd you come so late yesterday?"

Ah yes, that very awkward meeting they had shared the day before...he hadn't been 'late'...not _really_...

Tweek squirmed a little self-consciously, his quivering hands still fisted in his shirt. "Um...I-I work at my dad's c-coffee shop for a -_ngh-_ b-bit after school...y'know, j-just to help out..."

Craig surprised him by _not_ scoffing at him, nodding slightly. "Cool. Come over when you get off, okay?"

The blond coffee-addict nodded eagerly, shaking his thermos back and forth. "Should I b-bring coffee too -_nghh!_" The shaky jerk cut off the question end of his sentence, but he thought Craig would get it. The other did indeed, and chuckled lightly, which was a plus, because Tweek hadn't heard him laugh at school yet.

"Sure, you do that."

Tweek beamed happily and was just settling in for the best lunch period he'd ever had, when Craig looked down, poking at the Zune in Tweek's lap. "Your thing's gonna die if you leave it on like that."

Tweek shrieked in shock as he hastened to turn it off; Craig just laughed. And even though there was still a little part in the back of his mind that remembered the nightmare, Tweek ignored it and just pressed buttons on his Zune.

* * *

Tweek was so bouncy when he finally arrived at his dad's coffee shop, that even his father took a second glance at him and asked if something extra special had happened today. The blond had just nodded happily and ran off to get his apron on, leaving his father—for once in his life—utterly confused and surprised.

'_What was that about?_' His father thought bemusedly.

But Tweek was more than just happy, he was content and fully satisfied in the fact that he had his best—and only—friend back. Things had turned out great! Even if they had begun more than a little bad...and then turned awkward...but they were good now! It was hard to believe it had really only been yesterday that things had turned so bad, and now they were way better.

Humming a little, Tweek pushed in one headphone from his Zune, turning it on and stowing it into his pocket, letting the soft piano and rolling drum fill his hearing.

'_The world is filled with the minds of people who try to disguise the night that shines through, when no one can save you. And you'll feel the eyes of people who try to decide; you'll find yourself lost, inside of the chaos..._'

He felt calmer than normal as he rubbed a damp cloth over the counter and took orders from the customers that stepped inside, watching his father chatting the regulars up by his customary table by the window. He and Craig were friends again, and nothing could go wrong...

'_I know you won't care..._'

Tweek paused in act of sprinkling chocolate shavings over a customer's order, almost spilling the little container he had them in as the impatient woman started to tap her nails on the pristine counter. He hastily shook himself out of his stillness, apologizing almost mechanically as he handed her the finished drink; she rolled her eyes and stalked off with it. Weird middle-aged, cat-owning, single ladies, he muttered to himself.

Now free of distractions, his mind turned with adamant, relentless force to his nightmare, and Tweek shuddered, blindly reaching for the half-dry cloth to continue wiping down the already-clean counter. He needed something to busy his hands and take his mind away. But it didn't work, and he again envisioned the Craig from his nightmares, drooling blood on his bedcovers. Urgh...that couldn't be possible, could it? He knew it would have been a wrench in the perfect cog-work of their lunch time, but he sorely wished he had asked Craig what was under his mask. Not that he'd actually do it if the raven was standing in front of him now, but if his mind was going to continue taunting him with some horrible nightmares, he wanted to know! To at least be assured that the guy wasn't missing his freakin' JAW! Jesus Christ, it was too scary to even think about! Tweek squeaked, wiping faster.

But...there was no way, right? Craig might have a lot of things under there, including demonic teeth or freakish alien tentacles like that one lobster thing on _Futurama_, but him missing his entire lower half of his face just wasn't a rational _possibility_, no matter what kind of rumors were abounding around the school!

...right?

_No way...he wouldn't be able to speak if he was missing his jaw..._ his mind supplied hesitantly, sounding a bit worried. _Like...there'd be no way for him to form any words...cuz, his tongue couldn't flick and make sounds and stuff..._

I guess so, Tweek thought nervously, the cloth squeaking as he wiped over the same spot again and again.

_And he talks to you, like at lunch. So...he can't be missing his jaw...I hope._

Well thanks for that last bit. Tweek rolled his eyes. Such a confidence booster.

_Ay! I don't see you making any optimistic contributions!_

That's only 'cause...The blond flushed, sputtering angrily as he failed to think of anything witty. Y-y'know what? You're my mind, you're not supposed to talk back to me this way!

His mind snorted and said, _phht, okay, I see how it is,_ before doing a hairflip and strutting away like it owned the place.

Tweek, having now officially lost his mind, continued to clean the spotless counter, when someone slouched down on the opposite side, familiar brown hair dropping in front of distant, preoccupied eyes. The blond shrieked, jumping back abruptly before realizing it was only Clyde and not some giant blob monster out to swallow his _head_. And he didn't look all that great, now that the blond was looking at him.

"Um...h-hey Clyde..." Tweek started hesitantly, trailing off uncertainly. "You want s-something -_ngh-_ to drink? O-on the house...if y-y-you want..."

"No, no, I'll pay...but, um, yeah, just..." Clyde looked up blearily. "Gimme a coffee...no sugar."

"Okay." Tweek gave him another look over before going to fill his order, casting nervous eyes the brunet's way. What was up with him? Clyde was never sad and down like this...and where was Butters? Those two were practically inseparable, everybody knew that!

Tweek handed him his coffee and Clyde took it, looking very much as if he wanted to say something, but at the last second he clamped his lips shut, looking very depressed as he shuffled off to a lonely corner, sitting at a small table meant for two. Tweek remembered what had happened the last time he had let himself approach Clyde—and Butters, he reminded himself—but the guy looked so lonely and lost and besides, it was their meddling and pushiness that had brought him and Craig together as friends in the first place, so he couldn't be _too_ unhappy with them...or something like that. Glancing around, he took in the very relaxed atmosphere of the place, and decided that they didn't really have much of a rush and he wasn't likely to get a customer so soon anyway, and scampered from behind the counter, twisting his hands nervously in his apron and thinking that maybe he shouldn't mention that Clyde had never paid for his drink anyway. Tiptoeing to where the brunet sat, he paused his music as he hovered by the table, voice nervous and anxious. He noticed Clyde hadn't even touched his coffee yet.

"C-Clyde?" He asked anxiously, "Are you -_ngh-_ o-okay?"

The other didn't even look up, nodding slightly and Tweek frowned worriedly. Twittering anxiously around the table like some dishevel-feathered bird hyped up on crack, he decided to just go for it and sat down in the opposite seat, leaning forward a bit. Even without any of the other reasons, Tweek couldn't forget that they had been friends once. A long time ago...and not very close friends either, but friends nonetheless. And friends never left one another behind, especially when they were like this. He didn't like to think Craig would ignore him in a moment of need, and if Craig ever had such a moment himself—which was doubtful, seeing as he was ninja and all, but still—Tweek thought that he'd definitely try to help in whatever way he possibly could. He looked around, trying to find somewhere to begin and be helpful. "Uhh...wh-where's Butters?"

It seemed that was the wrong thing to mention first; Clyde winced and seemed to shrink deeper within himself, dragging his coffee cup closer to take a shaky sip from it. "He's a little mad at me..."

Tweek was astounded. Butters? Mad at Clyde? But he never got mad at anybody, much less Clyde! "Wh-what?" He screeched. "Why?" _WAS THE WORLD COMING TO AN __END__!_

Clyde shrugged morosely, but Tweek could tell he knew exactly the reason why. "I dunno..." He fidgeted a bit, then looked up at Tweek with a pleading look, trying to appear nonchalant. "So, um, how's Craig?"

"...what?"

The brunet flushed and looked down at his cup again. He looked embarrassed. "Well, I saw you guys hanging out at lunch...thought you guys might be friends. Just, y'know, wondering how he is."

Tweek jerked a little, biting his lip in surprise at the sudden change in topic—and the much more unexpected person it involved—as he wondered what to say. "I-I thought..." He began slowly, hesitantly, "You didn't -_ngh-_ care a-about him anymore..."

Clyde gave him a completely miserable look. "I d-don't!" He sputtered, gripping his cup tightly. "It was just a question!" He looked away, then back down again, laying his head on one hand as said resignedly, "He was...me and Craig were friends once. Y'know, before all of this happened." Clyde gestured to around his face. "I haven't spoken to the guy in almost a year and a half; I really almost forgot what it was like to be friends with him. And, I've never seen him look so comfortable around someone since he got that mask of his, so when I saw you guys at lunch today, it made me remember. I just wanted to know how he was doing; that's all, I guess..." he thought quietly for a moment, staring off past Tweek. "Just that, really..."

The blond waited, silently. He got the feeling that wasn't all he wanted to say, and didn't want to disturb his train of thought. Because even Clyde could tackle him and steal his face.

Just sayin'. You gotta be careful.

"Butters is mad at me because of that." Tweek was surprised. Just because he wanted to know how Craig was doing? "I only started being his friend after I stopped hanging with Craig, so...when I brought him up today he got a little jealous and told me to screw off. I think he thinks that now that you're friends with Craig I'll try to come back too and leave him like I left Craig. He thinks he's just my bro replacement."

There was an awkward silence—at least on Tweek's part; Clyde just kinda looked distant and sad—and Tweek twitched anxiously while he took in those words. Okay, he didn't know how to help in this situation at _all_. He'd never really had friends before Craig, how was he supposed to know how to fix this? Tweek whined a little on the inside, squirming helplessly and feeling as if he was very much over his head in this. "U-uh...Craig is -_ngh-_ f-fine...he's p-pretty cool." He got out eventually, stuttering slightly and figuring he might as well answer the first question, out of the lack of anything else wise to say.

Clyde nodded absently, but Tweek had the feeling he was barely listening, probably still thinking about his problem with Butters. "You know, I don't think me and Craig would've stopped being friends if Token had still been here." He said vaguely, slowly sipping at his coffee. Tweek's brow furrowed, before he remembered what, or who, the brunet was talking about. Token Black had moved away in freshman year to study abroad or something of the other, and his family had left to go live overseas in Europe. He faintly remembered the guy, having not thought about him in years. But he had been part of their group from elementary school, and Tweek supposed he had been one of his somewhat friends. He mainly remembered that Token was black and had tons of money, as well as being really close with Craig and Clyde.

There hadn't been another black kid in town since him, and Tweek supposed there never would be again. Their town wasn't really much for new arrivals.

The brunet stirred his coffee with the little stirrer thing Tweek had put in there. "Token was the smart one in the group, he wouldn't have cared about that mask thing. And if he didn't care, I didn't care. Token had a lot of sense; we all followed him on shit like that. When he left..." he trailed off and shrugged, taking another sip. "I was there when Craig beat up that junior for making fun of his mask. It was just us two by then, seeing as you didn't really hang with us, you were just kinda there, and I'd been wondering about the thing when he came to school wearing it the first day. But I didn't say anything, I just kinda thought it was some kind of joke or a prank or something."

Tweek still remembered that day. He hadn't seen Craig until he'd gone to meet him and Clyde for lunch, but the sight of the mask that day had startled and freaked him out so much he'd just screamed and ran off in the opposite direction. That was pretty much the end of his connection with Craig and Clyde, and the end to anything he could have called friends. He'd been completely alone since then.

"But _damn_..." Clyde shuddered. "I'd never seen Craig go so _crazy_ on someone. They had to literally pull him of the guy, and he was still trying to get at him. And he was bleeding too. The guy didn't even touch him and there was blood going down his chin. I thought he'd bitten his tongue just being angry...it freaked me out. It was like, I didn't know who this guy was, and that's pretty creepy, man." Tweek was hanging onto his every word by now, leaning forward on the table. This was side to the story he hadn't heard before, from a person who'd actually _been_ there. And who had been closer to Craig than Clyde in those days? The brunet kept talking; it was almost like he was trying to explain it to himself, to make it seem less of a excuse and more as the only course he could have possibly taken. "I got scared that he'd do the same thing to me if I brought it up. And after that, I really wanted to know, just to _know_, but I didn't want to say anything. I thought he might do the same to me that he'd done to that junior. I started avoiding him, and a week later, it was like we never knew each other." He ended abruptly. There was nothing else to say for that; no pretty words to decorate it with.

Tweek frowned a little, feeling a bit of pity. That was a pretty sad ending to a friendship, especially seeing as it had come so far, all the way from preschool and elementary.

The brunet sighed. "...I was alone for a while...like, I knew people, but they weren't close like me and Craig had been. He'd been my bro, right? And no one really wanted to get close, 'cuz they were all still freaked about Craig and didn't want to mess with anyone near him." Clyde looked down at his coffee, a small smile curving his lips just the tiniest bit. "Butters was the only one who was nice enough to stick around. He wasn't really my first choice, I mean, he was a wuss, right? But...he's pretty cool. And he's real sweet, too. He's a great guy. After a year, I couldn't imagine not being friends with him." He paused, looking depressed again. "But that's what I thought about Craig too."

Tweek bit his lip nervously, wondering what to say. He decided to just say something truthful. "I...I-I'm -_ngh_- s-s-scared of him too. His mask...f-freaks me out. And I w-worry about -_erk_! H-him feeding m-me to the cannibal he has in his closet!" He ended on a fearful squeak.

Clyde looked aghast at this little tidbit. "He has a cannibal in his closet?"

Tweek blushed, looking down. "Well, n-no, I don't think so...but I _-ngh_- worry a-anyway!"

The other laughed, looking marginally happier. "Dude, only you would worry about that." He cocked his head to the side, looking like a curious, round little puppy. Ah, there was the normal Clyde again. "Did you know the whole school thinks you're on crack?"

"Arghhh!" Tweek tossed his hands in the air, flopping his head on the table as his arms dangled by his side. "...yes...a-and I don't know -_ngh_- why..."

"Well, you kinda twitch a lot." Clyde said conversationally, sipping his drink. "I mean, I know you're not on crack, but no one'll believe me if I told them it was just coffee. They don't really think caffeine does that to you."

"Ngh." Tweek twitched. The school was filled with _fools_, he grumbled moodily to himself. There as another pause, before he looked up from the table surface, timidly venturing out, "W-why don't you just -_augh_- t-tell Butters you won't leave him?"

Clyde shrugged again, stirring his coffee around. "I don't think he'll believe me. He's pretty scared about it."

Well, considering the circumstances, Tweek couldn't blame him. The blond coffee-addict pursed his lips, wondering what to say next. "Y-you don't hate him, r-right?"

"Of course not!" Clyde instantly protested, sounding more like a defiant child than anything else. Tweek nodded eagerly. "A-and, you -_ngh_- wouldn't a-abandon him, r-right?"

"Well duh!"

"W-why?"

Clyde was struck dumb for a second, looking more than a little confused. "Why what?"

Tweek's hands flailed wildly. "Wh-why wouldn't you a-abandon him? _Ngh_, wh-why's he so special?"

"Well..." Clyde floundered for a bit, blinking stupidly. "He's my best friend!" Tweek raised a twitchy eyebrow, clearly saying that this wasn't enough to convince Butters, given Clyde's past history. The brunet bit his lip and tried again. "He's...cool, and, um, really smart and lets me copy off his homework for class...and uh...uh...he really listens to me, instead of making some stupid comments like Craig would have, like he actually pays attention and cares about it...and he's fun to be around and mess around with," the more Clyde talked, the easier it seemed for him to go, and soon he was on a roll. "He's great at games and he always lets me borrow quarters when I run out cuz he's super nice like that and I know he's got my back and would never abandon _me_ for anyone and he's so _sweet_ and cute and soft—" He suddenly stopped there, and a light red color began spreading on his cheeks.

Tweek didn't really get the cute and soft comment but decided it was probably good anyway. "Th-then...just tell -_ngh-_ him th-that."

"I dunno..." Clyde suddenly seemed reluctant to look up, fiddling with the little stirrer thing. "What if...what if he doesn't believe me anyway?"

"Can't h-hurt to try..." Tweek said slowly, twiddling his thumbs together. This conversation seemed to have turned onto a slightly different direction than it had first begun, and Tweek had the nagging sense that they weren't speaking about strictly 'friends' anymore...but whatever else they could possibly be talking about, he honestly had no idea. But...maybe Clyde and Butters wouldn't end up like the brunet had with Craig, maybe Tweek had actually helped! He hoped so, at least...

Clyde seemed to think about something, eyes faraway, then slapped his hands down on the small table, a grin spreading on his features. "You know what? You're right!" He laughed and finished off his coffee with a gulp. "And he should know I'm telling the truth, 'cuz I can't lie to save my life." He beamed at Tweek. "Thanks for that, man. I really needed it."

Tweek blushed shyly, looking down in embarrassment. "I-I didn't really -_hnn-_ d-do much..."

"Sure you did!" Clyde reached over, slapping Tweek playfully on the shoulder; the blond shrieked in fear but let it pass, seeing as Clyde didn't rip off his head off or anything. "You're pretty cool too, Tweek; I'm glad you're Craig's friend. I always felt a little bad seeing as he didn't hav—" Clyde glanced casually over Tweek's shoulder as the little bells hanging over the door rang to signal an arriving customer, and stopped abruptly, face paling as he made some sort of squeaky noise.

Tweek whirled around, eyes wide at whatever had freaked Clyde out, and met a dark, freezing glare of raging blue. Craig Tucker had pulled open the door of the shop, eyes instantly finding the twittery blond and who he sat with. His eyes traveled down to where Clyde's hand was still resting on Tweek's shoulder and he seemed to puff up like a furious beast, shoulders raising and glare darkening more in pure, unadulterated _fury_. Tweek paled as well before the anger Craig emanated, shrinking back a bit as the raven took a step inside. Was Craig going to _murder_ them, _right then and there?_ Clyde hurriedly pulled his hand back, meeting the coffee-addict's eyes and letting him see the fear there.

"Dude, thanks for the coffee and...stuff." He muttered lowly, glancing against fearfully at Craig. "I'll, uh...see you around." Leaving his empty coffee cup, he ran off, skirting around the angry beast lingering by the door, who stared past him at Tweek and didn't bother to watch him leave. The little bells rang again and Clyde was gone; the raven seemed to calm down just the tiniest bit, scanning around suspiciously as if awaiting his next challenge to stare down. But no one looked at him; their coffee shop was very Zen like that, and no serious coffee drinker really cared much for interrupting their peaceful drinking to stare at something, even if it was creepy and kind of interesting and everyone knew it as the rampaging masked raven of DEATH.

Well, known at school anyway. The adults didn't really notice...or care. Like always, Tweek supposed. That might have had something to do with it.

And as Craig cast wary eyes around he seemed to relax when no one bothered to look at him, loosing some of the furious tension he carried around himself, becoming less of a dangerous animal ready to bite and tear someone apart and more of just normal, mask-wearing 'Craig'.

Satisfied, he made his way over to where Tweek sat, who was now trying to calm the fearful pounding of his heart and pretend that Craig's glare hadn't scared the living daylights—and possibly a bit of his soul, he'd have to check for it later—out of him. The badass, terrifying ninja Craig Tucker sat down in the seat Clyde had just vacated, eyes calm and blank again.

He greeted the blond casually. "Hey."

"U-um...hey." Tweek squeaked, feeling very self-conscious. "Y-you looked..._ngh_, k-kinda angry." He ventured timidly, his voice still a bit high-pitched. "S-s-s-something wrong?" He could barely get the words out.

"What did he want?" Craig asked bluntly, piercing eyes staring into Tweek.

Tweek jumped, eyes darting around nervously. "W-who? Clyde?"

"Yeah."

He quivered in place, his twitching getting a little more violent. Should he mention Clyde's desire to know how Craig was doing? His regret over their failed friendship? Oh God, what if the other got angry about it, 'cause he had looked _so mad_ at just seeing Clyde sitting there with Tweek, and flew into a fury and _accidentally back-handed him into a wall?_ What if he broke Tweek's face? What it was screwed up so horribly bad he had to have surgery to replace it and they gave him a ginger's face? No! He couldn't have a ginger's face, they had no souls! Tweek liked his soul! A thought struck him and he paled even further, twitching ever more violently. Craig's dad was a ginger! Didn't that mean that Craig only had _half a soul? OH MY GOD!_

Craig was still waiting for a reply, staring at him with slightly narrowed eyes and that decided Tweek. The last time he had seen that look was when he'd nearly lost him as a friend because of some stupid misunderstanding which had never been explained anyway but wasn't important anymore, and he wasn't about to go through all of that again. Nuh uh! He tangled hands into his hair, tightening his grip to the point of a very sharp pain, voice shrieking as he settled on part of the truth. "_He was worried about Butters! Naahhh!_"

The raven raised an eyebrow, looking slightly suspicious. "Butters?"

Tweek nodded furiously, hands tangling even deeper. "Th-they're having some problems..." he squeaked. "I g-gave him some ad-advice! And a f-free coffee! _Ngh!_"

Craig took a look at him—Tweek trembled under his gaze like a shivering leaf in their perpetual winter—and the mask twisted in a frown, eyes losing the remainder of their glare. "Chill, man, it's fine."

The blond nodded nervously, arms still trembling nervously. The raven waited for a moment, the silent ticking of a clock on the wall the only thing passing between them for a while, then asked, "Why don't you take your hands out of your hair?"

Tweek flushed in embarrassment, looking down. "They, u-um...g-got tangled too -_ngh-_ f-far...stuck," he finished lamely. Looking up, he could see that Craig was clearly trying to hold back a surprised chuckle, and scowled defensively. "I-It happens -_ngh-_ s-sometimes!"

Craig merely rolled his eyes, gesturing with a twitch of his finger for Tweek to bend a little closer. The blond hesitated after seeing the anger that the other had directed at him not even three minutes ago but relented, leaning his head closer. Craig examined the half-hidden hands for a silent minute, causing Tweek to jerk ever more violently, wondering just why the hell he was looking at it for so long, when the raven's hands came toward him and plucked at some of the knots, firmly but not painfully; in short order Tweek's hands were free, quicker than he himself could have managed it. He flexed his fingers in something like wonder, his earlier fear fading as he stared at Craig. "How'd y-you -_ngh-_ do that?"

The other shrugged carelessly. "I am ninja in all things."

Tweek nodded solemnly, realized the complete and utter sense in the statement. He looked around at the shop, still seeing no sign that any of the occupants were going to get up and order something, or that even anyone was going to enter, and remained in his chair, unwilling to provoke the human weapon of mass destruction in front of him.

Right now, he couldn't think of a single reason why Craig would be here, because while he drank Tweek's coffee, he'd never seen him come into the shop before, and he knew everyone who had come in here, stretching back almost four years ago. He had a memory for these things. The coffee-addict glanced at Craig out of his eye, to see the other staring at him bluntly. He squeaked, jumping a little, but recovered himself. Tweek cleared his throat.

"Uhh...y-you want to order s-something?"

Craig paused, looking around the shop again. "...sure." He looked at Tweek again, and the blond twitched, holding his gaze. They stared at each other for a long while, neither of them moving—well, except Tweek, but his twitches were kind of a given by this point—until Craig finally said, "What?"

Tweek's hand flailed around wildly. "_What do y-you want?_"

The raven raised an eyebrow, saying again, "What?"

The coffee-lover slapped a hand to his forehead, now doubting and seriously questioning Craig's said ninja-ness. "To o-order. _Ngh_, wh-what do you w-want to -_erk-_ order?"

"Oh." The raven turned in his seat to glance at the large board over the counter, dark blue eyes raking over it like an almighty masked lion of DESTRUCTION picking the juiciest slice of _fresh, delicious COFFEE-MEAT_. (insert dramatic hand gestures here)

Tweek quivered.

"...I dunno." The other finally decided, looking back at Tweek. "What ever it is you make in the morning."

Feeling for some reason like the rest of the innocent coffee had been spared, Tweek got up and scurried behind the counter again, quickly preparing the coffee the badass raven had so articulately ordered. This one, again, would be on the house, although not because Tweek was being nice and trying to cheer someone up—because coffee cheered everyone up, didn't you know?—but merely because Tweek got the feeling that if he asked Craig to pay up his _soul_ would be slurped up by demon jaws faster than a _dead baby through a meat grinder_.

Which was pretty fast, seeing as they were all soft and chewy like that.

...God, this was horrible for his father's business, wasn't it? Damn his big-heartedness and generosity.

Finished, he dropped the usual straw in it and put the coffee cup in front of Craig, who took it with a nod in Tweek's direction and drank it about as happily as Tweek had ever seen him. Okay, well, maybe not _that_ happy, but content at least. Settling back in his chair, the blond took another glance at him, fiddling with the hem of his apron. He wanted to ask something, but didn't know how the raven would react to it, or even if it would be okay to ask. Would it? Sweet Jesus, what if he _did_ get his soul _sucked out?_

And just to be mean and get payback for Tweek's earlier comments, his mind went ahead and opened his mouth.

"D-do you hate Clyde?"

Tweek squeaked as Craig turned narrowed eyes his way, clamping his lips shut. _Dammit, why'd you do that?_ He squealed inwardly.

That's what you get, his mind replied smugly, sticking out an imaginary tongue. I hope your death is painful.

_If I die, __you__ die too!_ Tweek wailed.

Oh. His mind paused. Oh yeah...

Meanwhile, Craig was giving Tweek a very strange look, as if trying to figure out the best way to skin his little coffee-for-blood body and roast him over _the very flames of HELL_. The blond shook and trembled, praying to God for his death to be quick. If it wasn't quick, he might die a traumatized death and be forced to haunt his father's shop as he suffered in a loop of _endless misery and agony for ALL ETERNITY!_

Customers would leave; who would want to hang out in a haunted coffee shop? His father would lose money, and his parents would disown him! Then he'd be dead, a ghost, unable to drink coffee, AND disowned! NOOOO!

"No."

The simple word snapped Tweek's feeble attempts to keep calm and he ran shrieking into the backroom, where he huddled amongst the boxes of packaged napkins and such, trying to retain his meager threads of sanity. After a couple of minutes, though, he realized that Craig hadn't been about to turn him into a crazy, coffee-deprived, traumatized ghost, and meekly emerged from the backroom. His father had glanced up at him as he came in again, but that was as much notice as Tweek was given, seeing as no one really cared in a coffee shop, not even if you were big and red and had horns that curved up like a bull's.

Which could have accounted for the Very Powerful Lord of Hell laughing coquettishly at a metaphor his father had just said. Hmm, Tweek didn't know his dad knew Satan...but then again, in this town, who didn't? Putting it out of his head as another one of those things he would never get about his dad, Tweek went back to the table Craig was still miraculously sitting at, and slunk back into his seat, feeling very...Tweekish.

And the amazing ninja Craig Tucker kept on slurping up coffee through his straw, as if Tweek hadn't just had a spaz attack and gone off screaming to hide somewhere.

"S-sorry." Tweek muttered.

Craig shrugged. There was a silence for a second, before the raven spoke again, talking around the straw. "Don't hate Clyde. I barely know him."

"But..." Tweek hesitated, unsure of whether or not to push this. He had his life safely in his body right now, that much was certain, but he didn't know if it would remain that way if he kept on asking questions about this. But he was already spazzing out about Craig's mask and what really was going on with that, and his curiosity couldn't handle another great mystery, and firmly planted down its foot, saying it better know now or it'd be very very mad at Tweek.

And the blond didn't want that. It might hold him hostage! At gunpoint, oh _God!_

He looked up at Craig nervously, anxiously. "...w-wasn't he your -_ngh-_ f-friend?"

Again, the raven shrugged, so slowly and nonchalantly, Tweek could have missed the languid movement if he wasn't so focused on him, and continued to suck down coffee. It was like he really couldn't bother to care about the subject right at the moment.

Tweek couldn't help it, he had to continue. "Do y-you...do you -_augh-_ m-m-miss him?"

"No." The word was blunt, cold and careless. Craig pierced Tweek with his unrelenting, dead gaze, saying words that sent a shiver through the blond.

"People like that don't deserve my attention." He put his empty coffee cup down, suddenly ice-cold and eerily focused, his voice utterly devoid of the few emotions Tweek had ever heard from him. "They're just static noise...

...and I block things like that out."

Tweek quivered, looking at him. He wanted to ask then, if he didn't care, why had Craig been so furious when he'd walked in and saw Clyde? He wanted to, but Craig was giving him such a cold gaze, such a perfectly insensitive, lifeless glare that he'd never seen before, not even when they were first getting to know each other, and he knew at least, that this was the truth.

Craig didn't care if Clyde Donovan lived or died, or just vanished suddenly off the face of the earth. He simply didn't _care_.

Looking at him, though, Tweek could see something there, in Craig's dead stare that burned and boiled, something big and dark and _hateful_. He might not have hated Clyde, but he _did_ hate something, or someone else.

But the line was drawn and Tweek was toeing the thinness of it; he wasn't going to find out what would happen to him if he crossed it. Drawing back to safer territories, he just nodded obediently and nervously asked if Craig wanted a refill, which he did.

He should be glad that they were friends again, that Craig had taken it upon himself to sit with him at lunch and now they were alright again. His curiosity wasn't exactly satisfied—in fact, not at _all_, it reminded him angrily—and still he had managed to only build upon the mysteries surrounding Craig Tucker, but...but he _was_ glad, Tweek consoled himself somewhat hesitantly, trying to believe it himself as he stood in front of the coffee counter again. He _was_ glad they were friends again, and hoped that this would be the last of their problems, because he really didn't want to lose his only friend again. He hoped things would be fine from now on, and his hands trembled as he filled the coffee cup an inch from the top.

Because if there was one thing he wanted now after their little conversation, it was to never, _ever_ become just '_static noise_' to Craig Tucker.

* * *

**EDIT (7/31/11): The contest has been won by The Purity in Sordidity (she gave me the answer in a PM), so don't wear yourself out, people! xDDD actually, she was the only one to actually try them...well, no, someone else (Powerpuffs621) guessed the random sentence, but really, it killed me on the inside *sobs* Anyway, thanks to Cynical B. Itch for updating for me! Love ya!**


	6. Attempts Always End In Failure

*in a rush* I love you all thank you so much for waiting! *hugs to all readers*

* * *

**Part Five:**_**  
Attempts Always End In Failure**_

It was Tweek's opinion that maybe Craig was a bit of a sadist. It might have been the insane killer in him peeking out at last, waiting for just the right moment to rip out his throat. Maybe Tweek had pissed him off one too many times. Maybe he was just evil.

Either way, Tweek decided that Craig was punishing him for talking to Clyde the way that he did. What was wrong with it, he wouldn't know, but there it was. And now he was being tortured…albeit not really in a way one would consider torture to be.

"Hey, Tweek, look at this."

The blond peered up hesitantly from where he was trying to take apart one of those weird wooden puzzles. Craig had a whole bunch of them; another one of his quirks, Tweek supposed. They were really hard though! Tweek had been fiddling with this particular star-shaped one for a while and he still couldn't figure out how to take it apart, even though he'd seen Craig do it in less than thirty seconds.

But now he put it down and and scooted a little closer on the bed to where Craig was sitting with his laptop. "W-what?" He questioned. Another website of dirty limericks? Craig was really good at finding those...maybe he'd finally show him what /b was...Tweek was a little too wary of it now to look for it himself.

_Maybe it's something horrible and scary; don't look over so casually!_ His mind screeched in warning.

Tweek shook his head internally. No! He replied stubbornly. We just talked back in the shop an things are going good and Craig wouldn't do that! He's a good guy! If I don't look over he'll be mad that I'm thinking so badly of him and he'll steal my thermos or something! I love this thermos!

His mental ramble was interrupted as Craig turned the laptop to face him, and Tweek saw what looked like a news article. Peering a little closer, he read the header.

'_Ten Reasons Why The Zombie Apocalypse WILL Happen'_

"_Aurrghhh!_" Tweek flailed back, jumping back so far and quickly he almost smacked his skull on the headboard behind him. Thank God he didn't, what if he shattered the wood with his head? Or worse, his head with the _wood?_ There'd be massive cerebral hemorrhaging and even if he survived an didn't BLEED TO DEATH on Craig's bed, he'd probably suffer mental retardation and turn into a serial killer who murdered hundreds of people with _CAFFIENE POISONING!_ He'd be blind too! The hit would have been right where the occipital lobe was and _that_ was where the visual cortex was and he couldn't be blind, he'd never see coffee again, _oh my God, he'd never see coffee again! NOOOOO!_

And even if he did die, the bloodstains would never leave Craig's bed even if he washed it fifty times and what if his bleeding released some horrible deadly disease that had been hidden in Tweek's brain matter and infected Craig and turned him into a bloodthirsty zombie, which that news article said could exist, and it was all Tweek's fault? News articles never lied, that was why they were _news articles!_

Oh God, zombies could be coming for him RIGHT FREAKIN' NOW!

"Zombies!" Tweek screamed, shuddering so badly he nearly kicked Craig in the side (oh Jesus, no!). "W-we have to t-t-to get people ready, we have to prepare -_augh!_ Jesus Christ, I'm not ready yet!" He wailed. "I-I can't let them take me _sweet, virgin BRAIN!_"

At this, Craig gave a very loud snort, and Tweek quivered in confusion as the other began to clearly withhold laughter. Why was he laughing? What was so funny? This was serious! Sure, Craig was a deadly ninja of the _beastly variety_, but Tweek wasn't! He was twitchy and small and he didn't own any weapons of any kind and he probably couldn't handle them either anyway 'cuz he wasn't full of badassery like Craig was and he didn't want to _diiiiiie_ and _why was Craig still laughing?_

His mind shrieked again. _What if he cut a deal with the zombies and sold you out because we're __such tasty, easy PREY?_

Tweek squealed again at the thought, staring at the raven in horror. Could he have been such an idiot to trust a masked ninja of doom as his friend? Butbutbutbut, they _had_ been friends hadn't they? Tweek had thought so! They'd laughed together, and played games, and gotten through so much...they had shared coffee together, for Pete's sake! Coffee! If coffee couldn't make you friends, what could? WAS NOTHING SACRED ANYMORE?

The raven finally stopped trying to hold back his laughter and started laughing for real, that toothy mask of his doing those weird contraction-bubble-looking things it did when he laughed. Tweek looked at him in utter, blinding confusion, hands twisting in the hem of his shirt fitfully. It didn't _seem_ to be malicious '_your-brains-are-gonna-taste-GREAT_' laughter, but that certainly wasn't quelling any of Tweek's growing alarm.

The blond inched carefully away from the raven traitor, panicked eyes darting back and forth between Craig and the door. Could he make it? He wasn't going to hang around here to be killed via zombie attack, that was for sure! The other was ninja...but he was also distracted. Could Tweek be fast enough to get out before the other could catch him? What about after that? There was no way he could outrun a ninja on the way home; Craig was sure to easily catch him and tie him up like a friggin' shoelace!Like a pretzel! Like a _bendy straw_, for the love of God!

He shrieked and jumped in shock as he found the raven staring at him, and he slapped his hands over his mouth, watching as Craig chuckled once more and turned back to his laptop, completely ignoring Tweek.

What? What was that all about? Wasn't he supposed to be calling the zombies and telling them he had prime-rate prey sitting right next to him trapped for fear of moving and rousing the HORRIBLE NINJA-WRATH OF A MASKED MURDERER?

"A-aren't you gonna sell me out -_ngh-_ t-to the zombies?" Tweek cried out fearfully, hands going up to grip his hair in terrible fear. Craig merely rolled his eyes, though Tweek thought he could see the edge of his mask twitch up in a smile. He felt like screaming.

Why was everything so _confusing_?

It happened again not too long after, though. Tweek had finally calmed down some and come to the conclusion that it must have been another one of Craig's strange, dark jokes, and reluctantly retreated to the corner of the other's bed, fiddling nervously with the star puzzle again. He was still feeling a little bit jumpy though, although he was trying his very hardest to relax. Craig, thankfully, had been leaving him alone for the past while and he took a calming deep breath, trying to channel some serenity through his twitchy veins.

Glancing over at the raven, who looked like he was yawning—either that or stretching his jaw like a snake underneath the mask; no wait, that sounded like a yawn—Tweek felt a piece slide under his fingers and looked down to see the entire wooden puzzle fall into individual pieces in his palm. How had he done that? Dang it, he hadn't been paying attention!

"I heard something today."

The random sentence emitted from behind the black mask made Tweek jump, but he didn't shriek, and he looked up curiously, his shivering fingers ceasing their movements to try and put the thing back together. Craig had heard something? Like a secret? A rumor? A dead baby joke? He tilted his head, silently prompting Craig to continue, who still didn't look away from his laptop.

"I heard Cartman's a vorarephile."

Tweek's jaw dropped as he paled, inhaling a swift, squeaky breath in pure horror. A vorarephile? What? Someone so horribly deranged and sick was wandering their school? Tweek had a class with him! Oh God! He knew Cartman was twisted in the head, but sweet Jesus, it was too terrible to think about! Before he could shriek or even gasp out his in-taken breath, Craig looked up and said,

"I heard he has a crush on you, Tweek."

All the blood Tweek had left in his face vanished, and he felt the fires of panic start to burn his insides.

"JESUS, I DON'T WANT TO BE _EATEEEEEN!_" He leapt off of the bed, running to grab the nearest sword hanging from Craig's wall. No, he would not allow the merest chance of Cartman eating him alive! Or the even more _repelling_ idea of him having a crush on the blond! Screw this; there better be coffee in Hell! Tweek shrieked as he stabbed the sword downward...

...and gave a high-pitched 'uumf!' as the unexpectedly heavy weight dragged his aim downward and the sheath slammed into the most tender spot a guy owns.

Hmm. It seemed the sheath was metal. And heavy. And still _on the sword,_ a part of his mind noticed. Damn.

Tweek pitched forward, hands gripping himself as he whined and whimpered in utter, soul-baring agony as he curled into a ball on the ground. The blond gave an inarticulate pained squeak as the wounded area throbbed horribly, making him spasm as his lungs seized up from the wall of fire suddenly possessing his body. Being kneed in the stomach by Stan Marsh had nothing on this...oh _FUCK_, it felt like his _intestines exploded!_

He could vaguely hear Craig's hysterical laughter somewhere in the background, and had he been able to move, he would have flipped him off with as much force as he could have, even if Craig _was_ a ninja that could rip his liver out from his throat.

..._God, if you're up there, please kill me now_, Tweek begged silently with all the pain a guy who has been hit in the balls can relate to.

Then he began to involuntarily sob a little. Because it really, really hurt.

* * *

It took Tweek around fifteen minutes to be able to speak and breathe normally to spew out a stream of curse words even he didn't know he had, and causing Craig, who had calmed down and had casually hung up his sword again, to burst out into chuckles once more.

Around the thirty minute mark the blond could twitch in a somewhat more normal manner, and the raven finally helped him come away from where he lay by the door, in case someone tried to come inside and accidentally squished Tweek's head. Which by the way he was feeling, might not be such a bad thing.

Craig almost carried/dragged him to where the bed was, sitting next to where he now lay after putting in a game to play. Tweek rested his head on the raven's thigh, hazy with the last vestiges of pain and feeling very much like he was in desperate need of a hug, or at least huge amounts of morphine. Very, _very_ huge amounts of morphine. Enough painkillers to knock out an elephant. Or a giraffe. But right now, he just felt a budding gratefulness to Craig—even if he did laugh at him and pretty much cause this horrible, horrible pain—for letting him rest so casually on him. The gesture touched his already wounded and delicate insides.

Tweek felt weary and tired after being subjected to the terrible agony, and he lay limp, hands still protecting himself as he watched Craig play the game absently, having missed the menu screen and thus the title. Oh, it looked like another of those war game things...kinda like Call of Duty...or maybe Infamous...even his usual paranoid mental ramblings were quiet now, and Tweek winced sluggishly as a faint sharp pain hit him again. Damn aftershocks...

He sighed/groaned quietly, and looked up slowly to Craig's face, to where all he could see was the underside of his masked jaw and exposed throat. Jesus, that was really dangerous, Tweek suddenly thought. Anyone could just suddenly come up from beneath you and rip out your throat or something! Even if ninjas were invincible, what if another ninja came up with a horrible grudge that had spanned lifetimes and tried that on you? The ninja-ness would cancel out and then all that would remain was your own instincts and wits! What if Craig didn't have any wits? _Oh God!_

Hadn't that happened before, too? Tweek felt like he had seen it somewhere...something with ninjas...Naruto! It was in Naruto! That freaky crazy, impulsive sonuvabitch rose up from the ground like the living dead and smacked another ninja in the face or something, what was his name? Neni, Nati...Neji...? Yeah, Neji! That was freaky! And sudden like a killer feral cat coming at you from the depths of your closet just as you were trying to pull out your new shoes; just as horrible and painful and unexpected.

Wait, what if this meant Naruto was a _zombie ninja? _ He'd never die! That damned show would never end and it would just slowly take over the airwaves of television until everybody was completely brainwashed and could only think of Naruto! It'd be a pandemic of _ninja-wannabes_! Aurghhh!

Shaking those more-than-just-a-little-bit random thoughts from his head, Tweek returned his attention to Craig's mask, and felt his clawed curiosity raise its head a little. Oh damn. Here it comes. Thoughts of what those guys from before had told him ran though his brain, and Tweek bit his lip, desperately fighting the urge to just reach up and yank it down. It would be so easy, so quick and simple...and deadly. The masked raven was sure to grab his hand or just tear it off before it even touched the cloth and feed it to his guinea pig! Which speaking of, he hadn't seen around, actually...Tweek peered around from the ground and noticed there was no cage. Hmm. Maybe it had a room of its own? You could never tell with Craig...and he remembered that the other was seriously attached to his piggy.

His curiosity peeked up a little more, and Tweek twitched once, a simple jerking spasm and his hands clenched. He _really_ wanted to yank down that mask. Craig couldn't be too angry, right...? And he had a right, dammit! It wasn't fair that he got freaked out every time he looked at him and that the thing gave him nightmares! It wasn't fair, it wasn't nice, and after being friends, he should know!

...his nightmare popped into his head and he repressed a shudder. Okay, he _should_ know, but he wasn't exactly certain if he really wanted to. There was no telling what was actually under there...it could be anything, and that in itself was scary as hell. Tweek's curiosity hissed at him, claws clenching. For some reason it sounded like Gollum.

'_Do it, Tweek...just yank that mask down and see what's under there...you know you want to know, don't deny it! Get the preeeeecious..._'

'Precious'? Tweek frowned. Okay, that wasn't creepy at all...but no! He couldn't do that...not only was he extremely attached to his hand (quite literally), but he didn't want to make Craig angry. They'd just gotten to be friends again! Like, seriously this exactly same very day! It'd be _waaaaaay_ too risky to pull that now...what if Craig was never his friend again? No, he wouldn't risk that. Not now, and not like that, anyway.

Craig's last sentences at the coffee shop ran through his mind and Tweek shuddered. No, he would _not_ risk that happening...not for anything in the world.

"Hey, Tweek, wanna play?"

The blond's curiosity ran away into a hole as he looked up at the raven, seeing him casting a stare down toward him.

"..._ngh_?" He finally and very articulately managed.

Craig gestured to the television screen and Tweek looked to see the game paused on screen. Oh, he hadn't even noticed that. Craig prodded him with that controller and Tweek reluctantly tried to sit up, cringing as his stomach and lower areas throbbed. He'd be hard pressed to explain _that_ bruise...biting his lip, he took the proffered game controller, peering a bit warily at the screen as he wondered what exactly he'd have to do in the game. Besides shooting people of course. He'd seen Craig do that.

"S-so..." he began hesitantly. "_Ngh_, wha-what am I...?"

Craig quickly pointed out the controls, which were similar to those in Dead Space 3, and gave Tweek the very concise intrusions of, "_Shoot everybody._"

Tweek thought he could follow that.

He wasn't entirely sure why Craig was making him play this game, _his_ game, without even quitting and starting a new one. Wasn't he technically interrupting the raven's game then?

And then there was a little part of him that suddenly perked up in fear. Just like a rabbit will sense when a predator is around, so Tweek felt the same instinctual sensation of danger make his blood pump a little faster.

_It's a trick!_ His mind blared. _A trap, a deception of DISASTROUS CONSQEUENCES! Don't do it! Run away, run away!_

But I don't get it! Tweek wailed. What's so wrong?

_You don't have to get it; just ruuuuuun!_

Maybe his mind was right. Maybe he should run! After all, Craig seemed to be out to scare him today or something, what if he had some dastardly plan to scare him so bad he'd have a heart attack and die and be so freakin' scared as a ghost that he'd stay on earth forever as a restless spirit that Craig could summon back to harness his bountiful _ghost energy to commit unsolvable crimes?_

No way, what if heaven sent down some horrible Assassin Seraphic Squad and then _kill_ his soul and then he'd be twice dead, and Tweek didn't think you could have a good eternity being TWICE DEAD!

But even with that most terrifying thought in his head, his fingers shakily, stumblingly, clicked the start button and continued on with the game. Being twice dead would be definitely preferable to having a wrathful ninja after his flesh just because he didn't want to play some game. The game resumed, and he was in a hallway, it seemed, empty and abandoned...but it looked relatively new...almost looked like a hospital actually...

Nothing actually happened while Tweek was 'walking' through the empty hallways, concentrating on trying to get doors open and busting through some windows to get where he supposedly needed to go. It took him a bit but he realized that he was being led somewhere, most likely to where the story of the game would continue on further. He shot some guys in black, normal people, not anything really scary or terrifying, and he felt himself calm a little. Okay, he was just being a bit paranoid...nothing was happening and Craig was right there...surely he was just overreacting. He was just jumpy, that's all, after the zombie and vorarephilia scares earlier. Yeah...this was just a normal game and there were no plans or secret motives in this at all, besides, Craig wasn't even acting shifty or anything. Everything was fine.

Tweek relaxed a little farther, gripping the controller less tightly as he began to sink into the focused stupor most video games bring out in their players. Another couple more guys dead, some more dead ends forcing him to turn back and head in another direction, and the blond was gnawing on his bottom lip, taking sips from his thermos as he moved the guy around onscreen.

He turned a corner and came into a tiny hall which turned to the left, from which came some guy dressed in gray. Oh hey, was this guy missing or something? It said he'd found some Captain Fox or whatever...Tweek concentrated and tried to quell his shivers as the man began to talk...

...and was suddenly smashed against the wall like a bug.

The screen flickered in shades of yellow and red as the Captain was dragged up and toward the ceiling, leaving copious sprays of red blood as everything shuddered; the controller vibrated in Tweek's hands as some invisible monster ravaged the hall. The screams and howls coming from the television were sickening as the Captain was crushed to nothing but a bloody mess, and Tweek found himself scrambling back, dropping the controller as he tried to escape the horrendous sounds lingering in his ears.

It was different than the time he'd first played DS3. He realized it was a game this time, but it was so sudden, so terrible and violent and just _there_ and what the hell had _that_ been? There wasn't a reason for that, not a single one and Tweek was more freaked out about the fact that he didn't know _what the fuck_ that had been than anything else; if he didn't know what it was, it was dangerous and evil and potentially fatal, and he couldn't _stand_ that!

The unknown was so much more dangerous and scary than something he already knew was deadly.

The character onscreen darted forward into the hallway to the left, from where the Captain had come from, and Tweek shrieked; what if the thing was possessed? What if some evil malevolent ghost from beyond the grave was controlling it as a sign to Tweek it was coming for him next? That's what that invisible force had been, right? It had _messed with the goddamn game_ just to fuck with his mind! IT WAS COMING TO GET HIM!

Tweek found himself clutching something warm as he screeched in horror, "_Gaaah, w-what do you want fr-from meeeeee?_"

The screen didn't answer verbally, but suddenly white lighting-moving flashing _things_ appeared and darted around, wind howling and scattering things around as they rushed at the game character. Tweek screamed and hid his face as he screwed his eyes shut, waiting for them to burst from the television and claw his flesh right off of his bones, to stab through his chest and rip out his ribs, but nothing happened.

The sounds of bullets and a gun being fired caught his ears, and Tweek tensed, wondering if somehow the character guy had turned against him too and was firing into the screen to break out. Was everything against him today? After a second he opened his eyes, realizing that once again, what he was clutching onto fearfully, shakily, was nonetheless but the deadly raven Craig Tucker.

Tweek would have screamed in terror at the possibility of Craig being sufficiently pissed off at him pawing at him needlessly to _toss him out of the flippin' window_, until he noticed that Craig had the controller in his hands...and was shooting at the ghost-like things onscreen with a calm efficiency that had them screeching and unable to touch him. The blond, still hyped up on fear, adrenaline and hysteria, clutched onto him harder, screeching indiscriminately as one came too close.

"_Kill them, kill them ki—argh, shoot iiiiit! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CRAIG, KILL IT!_"

Finally they all disappeared, the entire thing having taken no more than thirty seconds, and Tweek was wide-eyed, panting as if he'd just run a marathon, his fingers aching from holding onto the other's shirt. There was a pause as he tried to bring his breathing under control, twitching violently. He sneaked a fearful glance up at the raven, who didn't seem much affected by Tweek's screams and terrified clutching. So...he _wasn't_ going to get tossed out of the nearest window? It was...okay to grab him if he was scared?

As if to answer his thoughts, Craig paused the game, tugging the arm Tweek so tightly held onto to sling it around the shivering blond's shoulders. "You got problems." He stated calmly.

The coffee-lover flushed, his head currently trapped between the raven's chest and his elbow. He scowled a bit, trying not to seem embarrassed at his reactions to the game. "Y-you did that on -_ngh- _pu-purpose!"

"Of course not." Craig deadpanned, keeping Tweek pinned as he unpaused the game and returned his hand to the controller, his mask curling in a tiny grin. "Why would I ever do that?"

"_Gah!_ I don't know, man, I d-don't!" Tweek cried out, feeling a little uncomfortable leaning this way so awkwardly. He scooted a bit closer to the raven and it lessened the tightness of the stretched muscle, enabling him to relax a bit. Craig tightened his arm around the blond but not too much; it was more like a light squeeze.

Even though Craig was in right the perfect position to SNAP HIS NECK at any second he wished, Tweek couldn't help feeling a little eased that his new friend wasn't getting mad at him for being a spaz. Now he wouldn't have to worry the next time he got freaked out and grabbed onto Craig for comfort, and that relieved him, even though he should have been worried about Craig's seeming urge to scare him with shit today.

...Tweek decided that maybe he should just avoid Clyde for a while, just in case. And possibly Butters, too. He didn't know why Craig was suddenly like this, but it wasn't like he was going to hope to get used to it any time soon. Better safe than sorry; Clyde and Butters would understand, he knew.

"...W-what game is that -_erk-_ a-a-anyway?"

"Fear 2."

"_Nghhh!_"

* * *

_Tweek didn't know why he was walking here, but he was. Everything around him was dark, and he couldn't see a thing...where was he? Tweek looked around, nervous, feeling the faint stirring of fear._

_ There was no thermos in his hands. That surprised him more than anything else._

_ "Tweek..."_

_ The whispered voice, sibilant as a snake's hiss, caressed the curve of his hearing, making him whirl around. Who had that been? But try as he might, Tweek could see nothing._

_ His hands twitched; he missed the feeling of a warm thermos between them._

_ "Twee—eeek..."_

_ The echo made him whirl around; it sounded so familiar, so so familiar...who was it? But nothing was there again and Tweek felt something brush ever so slightly against his cheek; if he had been even a little bit more distracted he would have missed it. Gasping, he swatted at it, only to feel the thin thing give under his fingers, swaying against the tips._

_ Cloth. He was wrapped in cloth._

_ What? Why was it around him? What was it doing here? Was that why he couldn't see? Tweek tried to grab at it in front of him, hands reaching, clasping against nothing; the more he struggled the closer it came, wrapping around his hand first, then his arms, and finally against his body, cocooning him like a trapped insect. The thought terrified him. He opened his mouth to scream but it closed over that too before he could even take a breath._

_ Tweek flailed, silently screaming as he wriggled and thrashed, fingers twitching uselessly in their confinement. Panic, deep and dark and all-consuming, ripped at him until Tweek thought he'd die right then and there...and then he was free somehow, falling to his knees._

_ Gasping and panting in horror, he saw what he was lying on._

_ A pile of fanged-toothed masks. Thousands of them._

_ "Tweek..."_

_ The whisper came again only it wasn't a whisper, it was more of a choked breath, and Tweek realized it was coming from below him, in the depths of the masks. And he realized why it was so familiar. It was Craig. He was trapped. Under the masks. Trapped._

_ His hands were digging into the depths of cloth before he even recognized what he was doing, sending the layers __of __masks flying, scattering them everywhere to get to Craig. The black of the cloth was indistinguishable from the rest of the black that Tweek was surrounded by, and it looked like hundreds of fanged mouths were grinning at him, laughing, laughing at _him_ as he struggled to free his friend._

_ Tweek dug and dug, but no matter how many he shoved aside it seemed like there were always more and more...a never ending pit of laughs and grins mocking him over and over and over..._

_ "Tweek..."_

* * *

Tweek woke up abruptly, still clutching onto the dear thermos he'd held onto last night, and for a moment thought he was still digging to save Craig; his hands were twitching, moving back and forth in frantic motions through his sheets. Finally realizing where he was and what was happening, he stopped, looking around. Oh Jesus.

Damn his overactive imagination and weird dreams! He'd been feeling a little relaxed and tired so he thought he might be able to get some sleep for once in a while but noooo! His mind wouldn't leave me alone!

It was a couple of days after the day he and Clyde had talked—and Craig had scared the living bejezzus out of him—and this had gone well so far. It was...relaxing, for Tweek to be reassured that Craig was still his friend and so far wouldn't abandon him to bloodthirsty radioactive spiders or killer giant werewolves from the depths of a forest _hell!_ And knowing now that Craig didn't even mind Tweek to accidentally jump him if he got scared...well that was a whole load of worry straight offa him. He was feeling so good, in fact, that he was even thinking that maybe he could take a couple of catnaps during the night before the gnomes came on their nightly raids, and that way he'd be even _more_ awake and ready to fend them off when they came!

...of course, dreams didn't exactly listen to plans and such like that.

Tweek grumbled to himself, trying to ignore this latest dream of his as he left his bed in the dark to refill his thermos with fresh hot coffee from his always-ready coffeemaker. But again dreams don't like to listen and it pushed to the front of Tweek's thoughts, nagging and gnawing at his tasty gray matter.

All those masks...Tweek shuddered. Like...it would never end, like he'd just keep digging through and through until he made a deep enough hole and they collapsed and buried him in there! And what about Craig? He'd die too!

Somewhere inside Tweek realized it was a bit pointless to be thinking about that, seeing as it was only a dream and not real...but what if it was? What if this all was actually a dream and how would he know, he didn't have anything small and special to check if this was reality or not and OH GOD WHAT IF HE WAS SECRETLY IN INCEPTION?

Tweek spared a few precious moments to have a good spaz attack, biting his lips to keep in sounds that might wake up his parents—or attract horrible, giant shadowy killers!—as he tugged on his hair, just barely keeping a grip on his trusty thermos. Jumping back on his bed, he wondered if he should fire up his laptop and find some good websites to keep him busy...

...when a '_snap_' and a small shriek of surprise caught his attention. There was a chatter of squeaky noises and Tweek launched himself from his bed, only catching the quick slap of footsteps as the rest of the little bastards ran away. And there was still indeterminable cursing coming from his left. Tweek checked his clock, the red lights gleaming in the darkness. Wow, was it really their raiding time already; he hadn't even noticed!

Tweek grabbed one of the multiple flashlights he had stored around his room, not waiting for his eyes to accustom themselves to the surrounding darkness. Turning it on, he shined it on where the noises were coming from, landing the beam on a single struggling, cursing gnome...caught tight in the snare Tweek had set up before he went to bed.

Just because he was going to be catnapping did not mean he was going to leave himself—or his precious underwear supply—unguarded.

The blond felt a thrill of joy at the sight. They'd worked! They'd actually, actually worked! He'd just done it as a precaution with some instructions he'd found on the internet...but it had worked! He thought that if Craig knew, he'd be proud. Tweek puffed up a little smugly at the thought. The gnome was still cursing.

"Stupid! Pussy! Evil brief-abandoning underwear traitor! Defiler of the soft and cottony! Let me go, cotton-damn you! Let me go!"

Tweek's cheeks puffed out in indignation. "Me? _Ngh,_ t-traitor? You! You're th-the -_erk-_ traitor!" He pointed at it accusingly as it flailed on the floor, caught by a thin fishing line hoop ensnared around its ankle. "You tricked me! I-I thought we could b-be -_ngh-_ friends b-but you tried to r-rob me anyway! _You_ traitor!"

"Curse you! May all your underpants be hard and starchy!" It screeched. "I hope you rub your nuts raw on them!"

Tweek gasped, scandalized. How _dare_ he? The presumption! The indignity! The _shaaaame!_ With an enraged squawk, he grabbed some scissors from his table and marched over to where the captured thing lay; it squeaked in fear as it saw the sharp metal glinting in his hands. But all the coffee-lover did was snip the line, taking the end in one hand and dragging the thing to the window. Undoing the multiple locks and such on it, Tweek hauled it up as he opened the window, and drop-kicked the little shit violently into the dark outside, hearing—with no little satisfaction—the sound of it screaming and yelling, its high-pitched little voice squealing, "Gone out the windoooooow...!"

Tweek wasn't worried; gnomes always landed on their feet.

"Th-there's more of that wh-where that -_ngh-_ came from!" Tweek shrieked savagely into the black night, slamming the window shut and redoing the locks. Ha! They'd think twice about raiding his room with such impunity!

Tweek felt much better when he opened up his laptop, curled up in his sheets and feeling strangely courageous, determined to spend the rest of the night on watch as he looked up just what the hell /b was.

* * *

Tweek stuck close by the lockers, fervently praying that if he didn't see them, they wouldn't see him.

_They can't see me they can't see me they can't see me they can't see me..._

"Hey what's up, man!"

_DAMMIT!_

Tweek shrieked as yet another person gave him a back-slap, disappearing into the school crowds before Tweek could get a good look at his face and potentially throw a thermos at him.

He didn't get it! He didn't get it at all! The weekend has passed a day ago and he was back in school after a good long two days of peacefully hanging out with Craig and no successful raids on his underwear...and then this happens! Why was fate screwing with him? Had he murdered someone in a past life? Oh God, that was it, wasn't it? He'd killed somebody! Oh dear sweet baby Jesus, he was a _MURDERER!_

No, it wasn't enough that people were still staring at him shamelessly, like he was some freak on display, no that wasn't enough for Tweek apparently! Now people were calling out to him, greeting him like they knew him, _touching_ him and _patting him on the back_ and _poking_ him...God, it was too much! What did they want? What were they trying to do with him? Were they trying to drive him insane? Because if so, they were doing a damn good job of it!

The truth, quite simply, came from Tweek's rising popularity. Yes, he had been noticed before, but now people were actively starting to _see_ him, which might not have been a good thing for him. His apparent easy friendship with Craig was becoming something of a legend now, and while Craig was regarded as dangerous and vaguely homicidal, Tweek was seen in a less hostile light. He wasn't quite so dangerous...at least not usually. Things changed when he was with Craig at two in the morning, prowling the dark streets looking for innocent victims to knife down like demons (another school myth).

But if Tweek wasn't so deadly in school...then it was safe to greet him, to stare and openly whisper and—for the especially bold and brave—to come up and give him a high-five or something. They'd never do so with Craig—he'd whip out his AK47 and shoot you full of holes like a cheese grater—but Tweek was different.

The blond was NOT appreciative of this more friendlier school view of him, even if he wasn't fully aware of it.

And so he was shaking and trembling more fitfully than normal, feeling the last threads of his restraint and sanity fray under the stares and mutters, and _touching_ and _poking_ and _backslaps_...it had not been a good day for Tweek Tweak.

And still, he was being taunted on the inside by curiosity, its long sharp claws stabbing into him from within. He couldn't help it; it was the same thing that had plagued him continuously since he'd first heard those damned stories from those guys: just what lay under Craig Tucker's mask?

It was a mystery, an enigma, a puzzle...and his dreams were certainly not helping him in that respect. When would he ever know? Tweek bit his nails nervously, his thermos sloshing noisily in his hands. He'd come so far, gone through too much to simply risk it and ask, but would he ever find out this great secret? What if he never did? What he died and went to his grave never knowing what lay under Craig's mask of NINJA CREEPY BEASTLINESS and then became a restless spirit wandering Limbo, trapped for all eternity because he had unfinished_ business?_ No, he couldn't become a wandering restless ghost, they didn't have coffee in Limbo! NOOOOO!

But the way things were going, it seemed that he wasn't going to get a chance any time soon. Add that to the stress of all these crazy people surrounding him in the school crowds, and Tweek was feeling very close to snapping.

Escaping quickly into his next classroom, Tweek forwent his usual seat near the middle of the classroom to sit in the very back, in the farthest, most removed corner. That way, people couldn't _stare at him_ without turning around very conspicuously, and then they'd get in trouble by the teacher! Yeah! It was the perfect defense!

The class passed uneventfully, which was great because Tweek felt like he was seven seconds away from a heart attack. So many people had stared at him when they had entered the room...they weren't now, seeing as the class was in session but that didn't stop Tweek from ripping at his hair in agony and taking quick hurried sips from his thermos every five seconds.

All those eyes...what if one of them had the Evil Eye and had_ cursed_ him already! He stifled a shriek. He couldn't be cursed; curses were bad!

_You'd have to find a witch to break it._

No, witches are bad too! Tweek wailed internally. You can't trust them! They'll put a hex on you!

_...you could always become a witch yourself. _His mind supplied helpfully.

Tweek paused. I thought witches were girls...he thought hesitantly.

_Phhht, details,_ came the careless response.

_YOU WANT ME TO GET A SEX CHANGE?_ Tweek shrieked in terror.

_...no..._

I can't be a girl! I wouldn't know how to be a girl! What do girls like? They're all crazy on the inside! _They pee sitting down, for God's sake!_ The blond screamed. He chugged the rest of his coffee.

_Well it wouldn't be permanent, just for a bit so you could get rid of the curse..._ his mind soothed.

Are you crazy? It _is_ permanent! I'd be a girl forever!

_Mr. Garrison got _two_ sex changes, and he got to be a guy again._

Tweek felt like fainting. Why were they discussing this? No! He thought. Who knows if they'd be able to do the same thing with me! _I'd be a girl forever!_ He repeated in terror.

_Oh come on,_ his mind scoffed._ It's not like you use it that much anyway..._

Blushing furiously, Tweek shot up, screaming, "I'M NOT CHOPPING OFF MY DICK, DAMMIT!"

The entire class went silent, and every eye turned to Tweek.

Oh Jesus, so many eyes! With a squeak, Tweek dove back into his seat, feeling his face flush hot and bright as he buried his head in his arms to avoid looking at everyone. Crap, why had he said that out loud? A slow clap sounded and a guy spoke up, faking a heavy southern accent,

"Aaaaay-men, bruthah!"

The classroom exploded in laughter and the coffee-lover groaned, fisting his hands in his hair. What did that mean, dammit? Why was everyone so damn confusing? And he didn't like everyone laughing at him! Argh!

Lunchtime came afterwards and Tweek just sat at his desk, feeling slightly put out at having to go through such confusing humiliation. This wasn't good, what if he graduated and no one wanted to sign his yearbook because he was strange and spazzy and then he'd go through life as that one person who never had their yearbook signed? The shame! And then the high school reunion would come and EVERYBODY WOULD KNOW WHO HE WAS and they wouldn't talk to him anyway! Not all the coffee in the world could soothe his injured pride from that!

Tweek gave the surrounding people wary looks as they all stood up and chattered and made their way out the door to enjoy their lunch. Insane little beasts, couldn't trust them...and then one of them came up around the desks and landed a friendly—or so it was supposed to be—punch on Tweek's shoulder as a laughing voice sounded.

"Nice freakout back there."

And he was gone. Tweek felt like exploding, all nerves on fire.

WHAT WAS WITH THE PEOPLE HERE TODAY? WHAT WAS WITH THE _TOUCHING?_

Stifling a confused sob, he smacked his head on the desk, wishing he was in his room, safe. And thus, he didn't see when someone entered the empty room, looking around curiously. He caught sight of Tweek, and called out to him, making the blond raise his head in both surprise and some fear.

"Oh, hey Tweek, what're you doing in here?"

"K-Kyle, hi..." Tweek began hesitantly. The redhead was another one of those people he used to know when he was younger but not so much right now. He hadn't changed much but he'd grown taller, (obviously, he wasn't a nine year old anymore, Tweek chided himself) and his dusky, vivid red hair was bound up in a loose ponytail. Tweek liked that color. He wished he had it in a bottle or something, to paint his room in. He'd call it...Desert Sunset. Yes. He liked that...

Shaking his head of such thoughts, he focused on the guy coming closer, fingers shaking in nervousness. He'd seemed like a good guy from afar, he'd never bullied any kids or kicked kittens or such, but Kyle was taller than him, and you never knew when a face-stealing alien had taken over someone's body just to try and kill all of humanity...Tweek shivered fearfully, making sure his trusty thermos was by him to use as a shield or possibly alien-killing weapon.

"U-um...nothing?" He supplied nervously.

Kyle looked at him in askance. "You know the lunch bell rang, right?"

"Oh! Y-yeah." Tweek looked down a bit, judging the distance to the door. He was quick, he could make it. He pondered for a moment if Craig would magically ninja in here to save him from the potential face-stealing alien threat.

"Alright..." Kyle looked around the empty classroom. "Anyway, could you help me look for my folder? I think I left it in here earlier, but I don't know..." He gave Tweek a hopeful look.

Damn. Even the aliens knew of his reluctance to say no to favors, especially when they might get him on the good side of previously-mentioned aliens that would otherwise most likely rip off his face and steal his _soul!_ Tweek nodded hurriedly, standing up as he peered over the desks to see if it might possibly be in plain sight. It was not, and he looked over at Kyle.

"W-where did you -_ngh_-sit?"

Kyle turned a bit, glancing over the rows. "Um, the third seat, over there." He pointed. Tweek was closer, so he trotted over there obediently, peeking under the desk. It wasn't there, and the other sighed in frustration after Tweek informed him of the fact.

"Crap, Stan's gonna have my ass on a plate if I don't have it...we had a project together." He explained to Tweek's confused glance. "My half was in there."

The blond scowled a bit at the mention of the football player. He still hadn't forgiven him for kneeing him in the stomach in that one fight...and for even attacking Craig in the first place!

Kyle caught the look on Tweek's face and ran a hand through his bound hair, sounding vaguely apologetic. "Look, I'm sorry about that fight you guys had...I know it was pretty stupid. I don't even know why Stan even agreed to jump Craig in the first place. He's got some idiotic moments. I mean, it's not like Craig beat _him_ up first, right?"

Tweek gave an unintelligible grunt, unwilling to be wholly trusting of him. Then something caught his eye and he cocked his head, asking curiously, "Kyle..._erk_, wh-what did your folder look like?"

"Green...just one of those cheap three-prong ones...why?"

Tweek pointed behind him to the teacher desk and blackboard, where a green folder was resting on the ridged metal rail that kept the chalk and erasers handy. The redhead cursed, and Tweek didn't blame him. The words 'GEEK' and 'DORK' were scrawled blatantly on the cover in red ink, along with some...colorful doodles of the male anatomy and several games of tic-tac-toe.

Kyle walked over to it, flipping it open and scanning the pages. "Hmm, at least they didn't mess with the stuff inside..." he closed it, seeming vaguely irritated as he made his way back to the blond's side. "I have plenty of these folders at home." Looking over at Tweek, he gave him a small smile, clapping him on the back amiably. Tweek barely restrained himself from screaming in blood-curdling fear. Not Kyle too! "Thanks Tweek."

Tweek would have given some sort of response, had he not been locked in agonizing fear. Kyle turned to go out the door, when he turned back, the light of interest in his eyes.

"Tweek...do you really know what Craig's deal is?"

"_Ngh?_" The blond squeaked in terror.

Kyle gestured in a circle around his mouth. "You know. His mask. You know what he really has under there? Some of the rumors are pretty stupid..."

A tiny feeling of resentment hit him as he thought ruefully that he of all people _should_ know but he _didn't_ for some reason or another. Tweek shook his head, and Kyle looked surprised. "Really? You don't?"

"H-he's never showed me."

The redhead looked confused. "But...you're friends with him."

"...yeah..."

"You hang out with him...right? Like, at home and stuff?"

"...yeah..."

"And you don't know." It was a statement, not a question.

"...yeah..." Tweek flushed embarrassedly. Dammit, he didn't need to be reminded of this! His curiosity was killing him already! Kyle looked intrigued, tugging thoughtfully on a stray lock of brilliant Desert Sunset-colored hair.

"Huh. Well, okay. See you later Tweek." He waved and exited the room, leaving Tweek to stew in both rising confusion and irked feelings. Damn, now he was going to have that question stuck in his head even more know...

Grabbing his stuff, he peeked out into the halls, thankful to see Kyle's form rounding a distant corner and leaving the rest of the halls—mercifully—alone for Tweek. Sighing in relief, he padded over the dirty tile, making his way across the empty space. He thought he'd skip the lunch-courtyard today, he wasn't feeling up to all those piercing stares and the possibility of more _touching_. He was pretty sure Craig would protect him if someone got too close, but he really, really wasn't feeling like having any more stress on him today, and Craig couldn't protect him from all those stares.

Crap, would Craig be angry if he skipped lunch today and didn't sit with him?

Tweek approached his locker with that fearful thought in mind, biting his lip anxiously as he leaned his head on the cool metal, trying not to freak out. He'd explain later when he went over to his house later today, the raven wouldn't be_ too _mad he thought...and if he was then he could always jump out the window to escape. It was a two story fall but people survive that kind of thing, right? Right? Yeah...he'd make him some hazelnut coffee before he went over, just to make sure.

Then he jumped in a shrieking mess as a hand landed on his shoulder.

Oh God, more _TOUCHING!_

Turning around, he prepared to meet this new assaulter with a fierce thermos attack, when he saw the blue hoodie and familiar mask. He shrieked again, only this time in relieved horror.

"Jesus, Craig, n-not you too! _Ngh,_ d-did they get to y-you too?"

The raven raised an eyebrow, silently asking the most obvious question, and Tweek grabbed at his shirt collar, tugging at it fitfully. "_Gah!_ Th-the touching, the touching! Everybody's t-t-_touching me today!_" He cried in agony.

Craig scowled a bit, and Tweek quailed under the suddenly stretched sharp teeth; God, that mask was creepy to look at, no matter if he was used to it or not! "Everybody's touching you?" He repeated coldly. Tweek nodded rapidly.

"It's all p-pats on the back and punches and they don't r-really -_ngh-_ hurt but I don't _get_ it, they d-didn't pay me this -_erk-_ m-much attention _before_ I w-was friends with you, Jesus, NOT th-that th-th-there's anything wrong with -_gah!_ B-being your friend but now everybody's _looking_ and _ staring_ and oh God th-the eyes and what if o-o-one of them had th-the Evil Eye and c-cursed me but they had to _touch_ me and they a-already -_ngh-_ _did_ and _oh God Craig, why're you TOUCHING ME?_"

The last bit was a high-pitched shriek as Tweek spasmed in shock; Craig had laid both hands on his shoulders, rubbing his hands in tiny circles. The raven didn't answer and Tweek continued to squirm and whine, unsure of what was happening. Should he run? Was he being cursed? _Had they gotten to Craig too?_ What should he DO!

Craig continued to move his hands on the coffee-lover, lightly slapping his fingers on Tweek's pale cheeks before moving up to tussle his hair, making it even more messier than normal. The blond moaned fearfully.

"Craaaaig, what're y-you _doing_?"

Again the other didn't answer, his gaze remaining locked on Tweek's as his digits dragged carefully over his nose and eyes, forcing the blond to close them in order to avoid being poked, shivering and shuddering as the hands rubbed over his face.

'_Jesus, why is he violating my face!_'

MAYBE HE WANTS TO STEAL IT! His mind screamed in terror. Maybe he's checking it to see if it fits! Like a snake sizing up a person before it EATS THEM!

Tweek restrained the urge to scream for help, because the hallways was deserted and no one would come to his aid anyway 'cause he was a cursed twitchy freak and Craig would most likely get mad and eat him right then and there for trying to get help, and bit his lip in terror, bracing himself for whatever horrible disaster was sure to come and kill him.

...

They stayed that way for a while, with Tweek standing still—it's a figure of speech, don't even think he was capable of it at that point—still desperately waiting for something to happen and only growing more anxious when it didn't while Craig continued to painlessly assault every sensory receptor on Tweek's face and hair with the speed and laziness of a sloth.

_A ninja sloth?_ His mind mused. _An interesting picture..._

Not the time! Tweek shrieked.

_But think about it! What if he like, predicted the future so every slow movement was begun way in advance so that when kunai daggers came flying at him he'd always be right on time to catch them? It'd be great!_

...okay maybe it would but this is _not the time_!

_Fine, you prude._

Tweek was a figurative millimeter away from snapping and running shrieking out of the hall, stripping off his clothing and sobbing violently like a good little cracked mind; he howled inwardly. I'm getting face-raped over here, WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

_Nothing, Adam Lambert, you're perfectly fine. Nothing's happening to you._ His mind calmly pointed out. The blond felt like strangling it for being so damnably calm when he wasn't. Then he realized what it was telling him.

...there really was nothing happening to him.

Cracking an eye open, he watched Craig's studiously blank expression as his hands wandered the vicinity of his ears, touching, rubbing, prodding...but not doing anything else. He wasn't getting stabbed in the face, or punched, or hit with the fire extinguisher to crack open his head and expose all the bloody insides that zombies would love to feed on 'cause he was so YUMMY AND DELICIOUS AND TASTED LIKE COFFEE; he was a bit weirded out...but perfectly fine.

Tweek gnawed on his lip for a minute, a little unsure and slightly embarrassed again that he had so naturally assumed Craig was going to kill him or something, even though he was totally within rights, like, what kind of person just starts violating someone's face? But another moment passed and _still_ nothing happened and Tweek felt himself relax a bit, his twitches calming down somewhat to their more normal speeds and frequencies.

It felt kind of nice actually. In a really weird way, it reminded him of when he was younger. There'd been a huge lice outbreak in the younger kids, and Tweek could still remember sitting on the floor with his back to his mom's knees while she sat on the couch and picked through his head with her fingers and a small comb. It was more than a little difficult at first because Tweek's hair was always a mess of tangles and such, but after a few good brushings had somewhat tamed the knots it was a lot easier. And there was just something about those fingers gently probing his scalp was made him feel soothed and sleepy...Tweek had actually fallen asleep leaning back on his mom's knees more than once during those times; it was the most sleep he'd ever gotten in his life.

And while it was more than a little creepy that Craig's fingers reminded him of when he had lice, the sensation was soothing. Relaxing. And before Tweek knew it, he was feeling more than perfectly content with the idea of Craig violating his face and hair as he was doing. He wasn't scared of being hurt, or being killed, and the notion that he was being touched didn't make his heart race in fear. Tweek was fine.

At that moment, the raven pulled away, crossing his arms as he stared at Tweek with a faintly triumphant grin pulling the corners of his mask up. And Tweek realized what Craig's point had been, what he had been trying to prove.

Oh.

He flushed and scowled somewhat, but it came out more of a pout as the other gazed at him victoriously.

"That's what I thought."

"I-it's only cuz I -_ngh-_ know y-you wouldn't kill me." Tweek muttered, still red-faced._ I hope. "_Still can't trust the o-others."

Craig gave a low chuckle, gesturing for Tweek to sit down as he bent his legs and balanced on the tips on his shoes, arms resting on his knees. He looked up at the reluctant blond, who could clearly see the raven doing this in the middle of the night, crouched in the midst of tree branches in a forest, spying on some enemy village for a secret attack by his clan. Shaking the image from his head, Tweek cast a glance on the tiles beneath them.

Urgh, dirty as always...but then again, the concrete ground out in the courtyard was filthy too and he still sat on it every day...swallowing back any protests, he sat down gingerly, repressing a shudder as his butt settled down on the hard floor, looking up at Craig. _Why_ exactly were they sitting on this nasty floor in the middle of an empty hallway?

Craig looked as if he knew exactly what thoughts were going through the blond's head right now and he gave a tiny smirk, rocking slightly back and forth on his feet. Tweek wondered how he could do that without falling over. Didn't his feet hurt or something? Did he even have any feet? What if he was in an accident and no one ever knew? What if he'd lost his legs? What if he wore prosthetics? What if those prosthetics were robotic and took over Craig's body one day and KILLED EVERY ONE ON THE PLANET VIA CHUCK NORRIS ROUNDHOUSE KICKS?

The raven flopped back on his ass with a grunt, laying his bare hands behind him on the tile. Tweek stifled a squeak. "Jesus, man, d-don't _do_ that! Th-the germs! _Ngh!_"

"They invented hand sanitizer for a reason." Craig said succinctly.

Tweek gripping at his hair, pointedly avoiding looking at Craig's hands. What if the germs sensed his gaze and followed him and literally _congregated on his body!_ Argh! "And do you -_ngh-_ h-have this sanitizer on you? _Do you!_"

The masked raven reached into his hoodie pocket, tossing something to Tweek, who shrieked this time and lunged his body forward to catch it; it bounced around in his hands thrice before he finally managed to grip it tightly. It was a tiny carry-around bottle of Purell hand sanitizer.

"Merry Christmas, Tweek."

Tweek managed to look at him pointedly through his sheer amazement of Craig's magical abilities. Could he pull kittens out of there too? Tweek bet he could if he asked... "C-Christmas isn't for months..."

Craig shrugged, lazy, slow and nonchalant. He leaned all the way back, putting his hands behind his head as he lay down and stared up at the off-white ceiling. Tweek decided to ask for magical-kitten-showings later, and to not mention the fact that he was probably gathering like, fifteen times the amounts of germs than before. His hoodie and hat protected him, he guessed, and he was pretty certain they were magic too.

"I like this better." The sudden statement made Tweek look over at Craig, who was still looking upwards. He tried to understand what Craig could possibly mean, cocking his head curiously at him. And then it hit him.

Looking up, his eyes wandered down both sides of the hallways, taking in the silence, the quiet solitude of it all, the fact that they were the only two here. You couldn't hear the noise of the courtyard from here, and no one ever wandered the hall during lunch, out of sheer sloth. So they were alone. Like...they could be the only two in the school. And it felt very very...calming. Tweek realized that he liked it as well. No one was staring at him or anything here.

"I-I like it too." Tweek said quietly, still staring down the hall. He raised his thermos to his lips and was about to take a sip when he felt a nudge by his knee. Surprised, he looked down to see his friend's foot prod at his leg, rubbing up and down. Feeling certain this was another poke at his recent spaz-out about touching and determined not to rise to Craig's silent jab at him, he gazed up to see Craig staring at him, another one of those small grins on his face. With a sudden bit of gall, the thought raced across his mind that he should at least have been able to see Craig's real face, if only to see him smile. Real friends let you see them smile, even if you had a cold sore or fucked up teeth or really chapped lips or something.

But the thought was gone as quickly as it came as Tweek forced it out and Craig raised his hand, asking silently for the thermos; the blond happily complied, digging around in his backpack for another straw.

His growing curiosity growled. Tweek ignored it.

* * *

Working in the coffee shop later that day, Tweek wondered if he was being selfish. I mean, he _did_ have the right to see what lay under Craig's mask, right? He had the right to ask him...right?

Did he?

It came down to their supposed friendship, and what it really meant. Tweek couldn't avoid the fact that the initial reason he had set out to become attached to Craig actually _was_ a selfish reason, all things considered. He was just looking for a person who he could use to make sure his mornings and maybe lunchtimes were safe. A guarantee.

It sounded so much more worse when Tweek laid it out so blatantly.

But at least, at the very _least_, he thought he had made up for that. Or canceled it out or something. Because...well, they were actual friends now, weren't they? Tweek liked hanging out with Craig just as much as Craig liked hanging out with him, and it was great. They'd had a bit of misunderstandings get in the way, but they'd risen above them. And that proved that Tweek really wanted to be Craig's friend, right? If he didn't, if he'd really only continued to think of Craig as an ends to a mean, he wouldn't have tried so hard, would he? He would have looked elsewhere for his guarantee; he would have turned to a different plan. Never mind the fact that he hadn't actually had one at that point in time...but he would have thought of one, he was certain. So, he really did want to be Craig's friend. He wasn't just a guarantee, or a safety measure or anything like that, he was Craig Tucker, the guy with ninja swords on his wall and tons of bloody games and weird personality quirks and a bottomless hoodie pocket.

He was Tweek's friend.

So things were different from what they should have been...it was good though. And now that they had this bond, what kinds of things could it give him? Could it give him Craig's secret? Could it give him that without complications, without arguments, without Craig getting angry at him and without him curb stomping his face? Was it allowed?

Tweek brought a man his large vanilla frappe with an extra espresso shot, his faraway mind almost causing his twitchiness to spill the drink all over the man's expensive-looking suit. However he made it unscathed and successfully put the drink down, turning away with his thoughts still in a whirl and barely avoiding his father's tray smacking him in the face.

"Careful, Tweek! We like you shakin', not stirred!" His father chuckled at his own joke, promptly turning away from him and continuing on as if nothing had happened. Tweek, on his own part, hadn't really noticed anything had happened. He manned the counter again, in a daze.

What was the definition of friendship? A form of interpersonal relationship, deeper than mere acquaintances...but what did it _mean_? You want to do what's best for the other, you understand, sympathize or empathize, you can be yourself, you trust, you're honest to each other. Tweek had fought by his side, empathized with his position and why he had such weird likes, he could spaz and twitch and grab onto him and Craig didn't mind, he trusted him to back him up, to protect him if the time came...but they weren't honest. Or at least, Craig wasn't. Tweek couldn't see himself hiding anything serious from the raven, not really, but Craig had yet to show him what was under the mask, to tell him why he wore it, what the story was behind it. Why wouldn't he? Did it mean he didn't trust Tweek with such a secret?

But then again, didn't these thoughts, this curiosity, also mean Tweek didn't trust Craig to tell him when the time was right? Friends also respected one another, gave each other the space needed...that's what he'd read in books and such and that's what he should do, right? So how could he think about asking Craig to give up his secret, try to use his friendship with the other to force him to take the mask off. _That_ wasn't right, right?

"Urgh..." Tweek lay his head on the counter, arms dangling by his sides. Jesus, he didn't want to think about this any more. He was tired about going over this, around and around and around in one giant circle and never getting anywhere! It might cause his brain to _implode from all the pressure!_ Brains did that, if too much pressure accumulated they imploded and became a gooey useless mush and you _DIED!_ Tweek didn't want to die and have his brain be mush! It'd hurt! But his curiosity wouldn't shut up, it just kept nagging and nagging...pretty convincingly, too. Tweek was worried it might just cause him to do something he'd definitely regret later on, whatever that might be.

_I just wanna see what's under there... _he whined inwardly, lower lip trembling. _And maybe if I can get him to take it off once then he won't have to wear it around me any more, cuz I don't wanna stare at it any more...__I'm tired of being scared __every time I see it..._

A slight rhythmic drumming caught his attention and Tweek forced his eyes open—when did he close them? He wasn't sure—looking up to see Craig staring down at him lazily, those fangs grinning at him like usual as his fingers tapped the counter. Tweek couldn't repress the shocked shudder that ran through him at the sight, bolting upright.

"He-llo, what can I _get_ you to-day?" He squeaked automatically, body stiff as a board. Craig raised a brow but didn't comment, and Tweek blushed in embarrassment, loosening up slightly as he turned his head to the side, coughing casually, as if nothing had happened. Yup, totally smooth.

"U-uh, hey Craig..._ngh!_" He forced out as nonchalantly as he could, the last jerk ruining said effect. "W-what's up?" He resisted the urge to make some sort of gang sign. That wasn't going to get him any cool points with the way he'd surely mess it up. And he couldn't pull off ghetto anyway.

Craig shrugged casually, whipping out a five-dollar bill from his jeans, holding it vertically

in between two fingers. He'd been coming in every day since the Clyde thing (and the brunet had mysteriously stopped coming in for some reason...) and always ordered the same thing, which was a relief for Tweek, seeing as he didn't have to deal with making a different perfect drink every time and could concentrate on just one. Tweek, of course, would have given Craig his coffee for free if he'd asked or wanted it, but the raven had always paid him after that first day. (Morning coffee was always free, though. That wouldn't change.)

Tweek plucked the bill from his hand, ringing up his drink on the register and handing Craig his change before moving off to the coffee machines. Plucking a tall Styrofoam cup from the stack by the espresso machine, he began to work, concentrating fiercely on the cup in front of him.

"N-not too little..." he muttered lowly, reaching for the little canister of milk and cream beside him. There was a color to the coffee, a shade of swirling caramel brown that it became when it was perfectly mixed, and that was what he was striving for. Feeling eyes upon him, he looked over to Craig, who was staring at him with the mild light of interest. He always did that too, when Tweek was making his coffee. The mask grinned tauntingly at him.

_Can't even give me a little peek_, Tweek grumbled, eyes still glancing over to the raven as he reached over for the small sugar container, right next to the chocolate shavings. _I wouldn't tell anybody, I never would! It'd just be between me and him, and things would be so g—_

"ARGHHH, FUCKING _CHRIST!_" Tweek screamed, jumping back and knocking the milk canister over. Hissing in pain, he waved his hand back and forth before finally clutching it to his chest, eyes tearing up as he heard the glass smash.. In his carelessness, instead of grabbing the sugar container, he reached too far...and laid his hand almost flat on the metal plate of the coffeemaker.

Which was extremely, extremely hot.

"Fffffffffffff—" The curse was locked in his jaws as his body tensed, feeling his hand throb and burn. God_dammit_ that hurt! Out of the corner of his eye he saw Craig jump on the counter, ready to leap over, when a green and brown blur zoomed out of nowhere, to the surprise of all. Tweek's father flew over the raven's head, sailing over him and the counter like they wasn't even there, landing perfectly on crouched feet.

Bouncing up, he put his coffee cup on the counter—how had he not spilled any? Tweek thought incredulously through his pain—taking his son's hand gently. "Oh my, Tweek, are you alright?" He asked, examining the burn. Already it was turning a mottled red, the skin becoming tight and shiny-looking.

The blond nodded, biting back a whimper as another wave of pain ran through him. His dad 'tsk'-ed, patting his head as he glanced over to the shattered glass on the floor. "Good coffee is priceless, it must be kept safe, understand?" He said seriously, pointing at Tweek gravely. "A spilled cup can never be truly replaced."

Tweek understood this to mean that he should be more careful. He nodded his understanding and his father smiled at him, reaching across the counter to pick up a clean cloth and run it under cold water. Wringing out the excess water, he folded it and placed it over Tweek's palm, wrapping it around. The coffee-addict sighed as the cool dampness soothed some of the pain away.

Looking over, his father caught sight of Craig. "Ah, Mr. Tucker! How nice to see you here!"

Craig, who was clambering off of the counter with a slightly put out expression in his eyes, looked somewhat surprised. Tweek was too. He'd never actually mentioned Craig by name when he told his father about his day; he was startled that his father actually knew who the raven was.

"Tweek goes to hang out with you after work, right?" His dad went on. Craig nodded. "Splendid! I've always said coffee and milk were the best of pairs." He looked over at Tweek, patting his thin shoulder amicably. "How about you run along, Tweek? No use putting more heat to already burned coffee."

"A-are you sure...?" Tweek asked hesitantly. He never left early. Not ever.

His father nodded his assurance, pushing him along. "Off you go, I'll clean up." He looked around, and brightened. "Oh, can't forget this!" Fingers almost dancing, he quickly mixed sugar into Craig's unfinished coffee, setting on it a whirl of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon. He handed it over to the raven, who took it silently.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pick up the yellow-haired maiden and her short friend..." With that he was off, disappearing into the back room for the broom and dustpan.

Tweek and Craig stared after him, until the blond looked down, and hesitantly removed his latte brown apron, settling it carefully down on the counter.

The raven waited for the other to join him before he started moving for the door, muttering lowly as he opened the door, "Your dad is weird."

Tweek nodded in agreement, wondering once more if he would ever understand his father's ways.

Once they were in Craig's room safe and sound (Tweek was certain he'd caught sight of an old man pervert stalking them on the way here, _Jesus_...) they put in a game in the PS3, and Tweek resigned himself to another day of getting his ass whupped and possibly virtually killed. He was surprised when Craig told him it was co-op, and even more surprised when it turned out to be one of those Halo games. He felt a bit of hope rise in his chest as he made a profile for himself. Did this mean Craig was going to be on his side? Yes, he would protect him! And Tweek wouldn't get killed today, woo!

He wasn't feeling so gracious after Craig changed the game's settings, moving the difficulty from 'Normal' to 'Legendary' and started the game like that. It only took Tweek five seconds to die after they met the first enemy.

It took Craig thirty minutes.

"Oh God!" Tweek cried out as a giant armored blue thing with spikes smashed in his skull, the controller jittering in his hands. Sighing deeply, he settled in to wait to respawn while Craig threw a plasma grenade at it, sipping disconsolately from his thermos. His burned hand's aching throb had lessened to a tiny wince here and there as he continually pressed the damp cloth on it during the lulls where Tweek was waiting to respawn again, and the excitement of the game was driving even those small twinges away pretty quickly.

He was pretty certain he was being more of a hinder than a help. He'd died more times than he thought a calculator could count, and kept forgetting to angle up when he shot something. Usually he got the two triggers mixed up and ended up blowing himself up with a badly-thrown grenade. Sometimes Craig too. And then occasionally he would get freaked out and shoot Craig in a panic, mistaking him for another enemy.

The raven just blew him up before Tweek killed him.

Still though, Craig was being nice and not leaving him alone to die at the hands of crazy triangle-looking monster things. Armed with a beam rifle and an energy sword, he shot anyone within range, and cut down those that came to close to shoot comfortably. But the enemies usually came in big numbers and Craig couldn't be in two places at once. That, and Tweek had the amazing habit of blowing himself up every two minutes. He wondered where he found so many frag grenades.

Tweek sighed again, resting his head on the covers. Craig was sprawled diagonally across his bed sans hoodie and hat, bracing himself on one arm as he leaned his head on a folded pillow, fingers slamming at buttons repeatedly as his thumbs rolled the thumbsticks. Tweek was also on the bed—his butt hurt if he sat too long on the floor, even if it was on carpet—laying on his belly and over Craig's legs. The last bit was a necessity; the raven had a tendency to kick when he was frustrated.

With his eyes half-lidded and black hair strewn everywhere on the pillow, Craig looked the very picture of relaxation. Tweek cast a look over him, feeling slightly jealous. Maybe he would be more relaxed too, if he wasn't dying so much. Damn this superbly hard difficulty!

"You died again."

"_Jesus._"

He hadn't been paying attention when he got respawned. And then he died again. Luckily, Craig had killed the giant blue thing and the area was safe; Tweek came back in less than five seconds, his trembling causing his view on the split screen to jerk up and down a bit. He followed Craig through a newly-opened doorway, biting his lip anxiously as he peered forward. There looked to be a shimmer ahead, along with some floating blue light, what was that? He let it get closer...

"He's got his cloaking shit on, you know." Craig's calm voice said beside him.

"Oh, f—" Tweek died again.

As a couple swift slices from a glowing iridescent sword made short work of the culprit, Tweek groaned, sparing a second as he respawned once more to take another sip from his thermos. It was inhuman how good Craig was at this game. And at this insane hard difficulty? How long would Tweek have to play this game to even get a tiny bit better at this? He suspected the answer was too long to bear any thinking about, and he groaned again, actually managing to kill one of those triangle things as it rounded a corner. He was actually feeling a bit good about himself, when a whole slew of shimmery, cloaked things rounded the corner as well.

Tweek shrieked, spasming as he accidentally pressed the left thumbstick forward, which put him straight into the thick of it; he clicked both trigger wildly, firing shots as he remembered he wasn't duel-wielding weapons. Three plasma grenades exploded in quick succession and Tweek blew himself up again. Thankfully, he'd also blown up all of the cloaked enemies too.

Craig's left leg twitched as he muttered a low "Good job". Tweek understood it wasn't an insult; he'd gotten rid of all them at one time, and they had a new checkpoint completed. To Craig, this was an accomplishment.

Tweek felt a little proud again.

They continued onwards, and Tweek was just starting to think he might not be so entirely hopeless at this game when Craig died. And respawned. And died again. Tweek was taken aback. That hadn't happened in a while. The raven respawned again but he didn't move, not even an inch as more alien-things attacked. Tweek fought them for a bit before both of them died and he paused the game, looking over at Craig.

He was asleep.

Tweek was astounded. He'd never seen Craig sleep before. A thought struck him. _He can fall asleep in the middle of a video game?_ _How is that possible? _Shaking his head, he studied the sleeping raven. He'd fallen asleep where he lay, still braced on one arm as he leaned on the pillow. It looked a little uncomfortable, to be honest. He pondered the situation for a second. Should he quit the game? Wake him up? Or maybe just leave and let him sleep? This was the first time this had happened, so he wasn't exactly sure of what to do. Tweek twitched anxiously, and his eyes fell on Craig's mask.

Oh Jesus.

All at once the ferocious urge, the _want_ hit him and Tweek almost gasped, feeling his throat close up.

_This is your chance, find out what he's hiding, he'll never know do it NOW!_

He wanted to take his friend's mask off. And the worst thing was, he really could do it, and Craig would never now. Tweek could be safe. He could betray him in secret.

_Betray? No, you deserve this! He doesn't trust you, he's been keeping it from you! You have the right to know!_

And he has the right to not tell me! Tweek fought back, feeling the curiosity to find out the truth _finally_ start to burn at him, much like his hand had done. Oh he wanted to know he wanted to he really did...but it felt wrong to do it like this. While Craig was _asleep_. Hell, he shouldn't even be thinking this! Why had it hit him so suddenly? Why was he thinking this? Nuh-uh, nope, he wasn't going to think about it, no! He was going to walk away, and go home, and then explain to Craig tomorrow what had happened and that he'd gone home to let him sleep.

_This_ _might be your only chance. It's __clear Craig doesn't trust you. He'll __n__ever tell you._

If he doesn't trust me yet it's for a reason, Tweek tried to reason with himself, tearing his eyes away from the raven to look at the split screen, still paused on the game.

_He'll never know._

And if he wakes up, or he does know, he really never will trust me. The thought terrified him. No, he couldn't risk it. Craig was his friend, his only friend, he could _never_ risk that. Not even if he had a thousand friends, he could never _take advantage _of him like that. And that was exactly what it was, wasn't it? He would be taking advantage of Craig, while he was asleep, while he was helpless and vulnerable and unable to defend his secret which he so desperately kept.

Tweek shook his head again, but the urge in him continued, still lingered and festered and _burned_.

_Just one peek, Tweek...just one peek...he'll never know...just one peek. One teeny weeny peek._

Tweek refused, said he didn't want it, didn't need it, afraid of himself in that one tiny second, and his eyes involuntarily peeked over at Craig again. And before he knew it, he was crawling closer, sliding over Craig's legs to bring himself closer, sitting up somewhat to kneel by his chest, his heart thudding in his own.

_Just one peek..._

This was wrong, he _knew_ it was wrong...but that didn't stop him from reaching his hand forward, toward the edge of the cloth, right over his left cheek, clinging to flesh below his eye. His breath caught in his throat as he looked over at Craig. The raven didn't stir. His breath was calm, steady; he was completely asleep.

Tweek's fingers touched the edge of the mask.

* * *

**A/N: **You know, I have no idea if you can get Fear 2 on a PS3...XD and I haven't played the game myself, I watched some of the gameplays on YouTube but that was a couple of months ago so I'm pretty certain I got some shit wrong (hell, I'm not even sure if it _**is**_ Fear 2...it could be the first one. Or the third for all I know—_**there is a third, right?**_)_**...**_seeing as I can't check it as I have no permanent webbies TT_TT Either way, this was some major BS here. Like...BS-GALORE! xDDDD (Feel free to correct me if you _have_ played the game before and find some terrible, horrible mistakes in here; I shalt try my hardest to fix them and get an edited version up here.) And btw, the lice thing is real. When I was in elementary school and got hit by lice (damn those motherfucking nasty ass bugs may they all _buuuuuuurn_) the only thing that made it bearable was having my mom go through my hair with her fingers and a comb (on her good days, of course). Seriously, that shit is addicting. I used to fall asleep on her all the time. Apparently I'm not the only one too, tons of my friends agree with me. And we also have a phrase for it in spanish, but I don't know how to spell it, sorry xDD oh well :P

Also, there is a woman named Wendy Gretchell or something on Twitter who is using the name 'nightingalelost'. It suffices to say I am pissed. Even more so when it became clear she had only had this account for a little over a year. Somebody take a peek at my account to see when I came here. Yeah. I am not a happy camper.

And I have news! I shall be participating in the wonderful NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year, and I hope to reach that goal of 500,000 words by November 31. I am excited :D

**Craig: **You're abandoning us.

**Me:** What? No I'm not...

**Craig:** It'll be Easter all over again.

**Me:** (sputters indignantly) O-of course not! That was a one time thing...I-I was busy...

**Craig:** (holds up finger) The giant pause before Tension's chapter 14—

**Me:** Okay, but that one was super emoti—

**Craig:** (ticks off another finger) The promise of the undelivered TDTF sequel—

**Me: **(flushes) So maybe I had to abandon that, it was neces—

**Craig:** (ticks off another) The undelivered prizes for your two readers—

**Me:** ...

**Craig:**(ticks off another) Should I even mention the two Tension sequels?

**Me:** ...Interlude isn't a sequel.

**Craig: ** It's after Tension, isn't it? You'd think after all the shit you put us through you could at least wrap us said shit. This is going to be exactly like Easter.

**Me: **(breaks down sobbing) (waves jerkily to readers) P-please wish m-m-me -_hic-_ l-luck with th-this! I h-hope for -_sniffles-_ yo-your s-s-suppo— (too many tears to fully understand words)

**Craig:** (flips off) You're pathetic.

**Me: **(louder wails)


	7. Around and Around We Go

_Whaaaaaaa? Meeeee, update not even a month after my last update? Someone slap me! XD __**Whoever reviewed anonymously as 'Blah', please contact me, you are the hundredth reviewer and get a oneshot! :D**_

* * *

**Part Six:**

_**Around And Around We Go**_

His fingers touched the black and white cloth and Tweek actually felt a tremor pass through his body, something like both fear and anticipation. Excitement. Tweek couldn't tell which feeling was stronger. Quivering from both his normal shivers and these new feelings, he curled a fingertip over the edge, hardly daring to breathe as he looked over to Craig's face again. Nothing, not a stir. Licking suddenly dry lips, Tweek curled in a second finger, the pressure moving the mask down the barest bit of a millimeter.

A shudder ran through Craig's body. His leg kicked.

Tweek froze, breath caught in his lungs. But then the raven relaxed, his braced arm slipped and settled him more deeply into the bed; his head sagged comfortably into the pillow. He sighed deeply and was silent. The blond released the breath he'd been holding, his heart thudding anxiously.

Jesus, what was he doing?

He shouldn't be doing this. Hell, why was he? He'd never do this normally...it almost had a dream-like quality to it, like a daydream, or a suddenly vivid burst of imagination. Tweek wondered when he'd wake up, and what he'd feel when he did. Relief, that it wasn't real? Or disappointment that it wasn't real?

He couldn't take his eyes off of the mask. It was like a magnet, drawing the heavy metal of his gaze. In all honesty, this was the first time he was getting such a close-up look at it. Oh sure, he'd seen it plenty of times, but never quite like this. It was a thick piece of cloth, black enough that he couldn't even see the hint of Craig's skin tone through it. And the white wasn't the pure white he'd always thought. It was more of an off-white, the color when something goes through the wash too many times. So he took it off periodically, then? In front of his family, obviously...

It occurred to Tweek that he could simply ask the raven's mother what he had under there. She surely knew. Or if she wouldn't tell him, at least assure him he had a jaw. And hadn't tried to join a gang or commit suicide or been the innocent victim of horrible parental abuse or whatever. The last one made Tweek shudder in fear. He quickly decided that his room was big enough to house two, and briefly wondered if the gnomes could be bribed and bought for nighttime assassinations.

The mask drew back his attentions. Of course; it always did.

The blond nibbled on his bottom lip for a moment, studying the object of his attention. He could see the outline of Craig's mouth, the slight indentation where his lips parted the tiniest bit as he breathed in and out, in and out slowly. Tweek wondered how he could breathe in that comfortably, much less fall asleep so easily with that thing on. Couldn't you choke on something like that?

Apparently Craig couldn't. Tweek had the feeling he'd fallen asleep with his mask on more than just once. And once again he was drawn to the feel of it under his touch, and the fact he had two fingers poised to drag it down any time he wished.

He shouldn't be doing this. He should walk away, right now. It was the right thing to do.

But Tweek could no more walk away than he could win against Craig in a Crimson Skies dogfight. It was impossible; his curiosity had not gone away, it continued to burn and rage against Tweek's common sense. So, his heart in his throat and his breath caught once more, Tweek twitched his fingers, dragging it down another millimeter as he prepared to slide it off as carefully, as smoothly and delicately as he could...

Craig spasmed violently, hand lunging up to grip Tweek's in a powerful clench, his eyes snapping open as he jerked awake. Tweek squeaked in fear and pain, unable to properly shriek; he'd used his injured hand to try and reveal the raven's secret.

The other had almost a wild look in his eye; Tweek didn't think he was properly aware. There was confusion in that tempestuous blue gaze, but that cleared quickly as he saw Tweek and Craig sat up, his words a hiss through the mask as he focused on the blond in front of him.

"What were you doing?" Oh, he was fully awake now.

Tweek couldn't answer, trapped within that dark, stabbing stare, his insides shriveling and quailing inside of him. His mouth opened, lips quavering as he tried to say anything but he had forgotten how to speak. It was worse than when Craig had glared at Clyde in the coffee shop. Worse even than when he'd gotten mad at Tweek that morning he'd thought the blond was ashamed of him. Because Craig wasn't mad right now. No, he was wild with _rage_.

Lightning was shooting from those dark blue eyes in front of him, their color deepening until Tweek was certain they could be mistaken for black. His mind was completely silent; not even it could form a single coherent thought, paranoid or not.

"_What. Were. You. Doing._" The snarling hiss of the raven's words wasn't even in the form of a question anymore, it was just a staccato growl of words; his grip tightened painfully as the white fangs snapped at him.

Tweek whimpered as pain shot through his entire arm, making his legs quiver and tremble. If he didn't piss himself he'd consider it a miracle. It hurt, it hurt really bad but he couldn't tell Craig to stop, to let go, hell, he couldn't remember how to_ breathe _properly right now.

Craig seemed to notice what hand he held onto, but instead of letting go or loosening his grip, he _squeezed_, and Tweek gave a quiet gasp as the pain flared even worse. His body jerked but still he couldn't look away, eyes wide and helpless to even close. The raven stared at him for a minute, and then gave an unidentifiable noise from the back of his throat, savagely pushing Tweek off the bed. The blond hit the ground with a 'thump' and a grunt, feeling more pain shoot up his back.

He stood, towering over the fallen Tweek like an avenging archangel and the only thing the blond could think as he held his throbbing hand to his chest was that he'd never been more scared in his entire life.

"Get out."

The coffee-addict looked up at him, uncomprehending as panic made him unable to move. Craig snarled, lunging forward to drag Tweek up by his collar; their faces were perilously close. He could feel the whuff of the raven's furious breath expel through the black and white cloth, but all he saw was blue, blue, blue.

"_Get. Out._" He cast a glance around and went down, almost dragging Tweek to the floor before snapping him back up; Tweek could barely get his legs underneath him, and a thermos hit him in the chest. His thermos. Craig ground it into his ribs. "Take your fucking thermos with you this time."

He gave Tweek a push, causing him to stumble back, arms windmilling almost comically but he didn't dare disobey. Faster than he thought he could he was out of there, tearing out of that house like Craig himself was on his heels. The thought only sent more terror through him and he went faster, heart pounding and hammering and his hand aching in agony as it clutched his thermos.

He was actually past his house and almost three streets down before he stopped and almost collapsed on the sidewalk, attracting stares from those around him but the blond didn't give a flying rat's ass at that moment. Drawing his knees up to his heaving, aching chest, he tried to breathe, Craig's face dominating his mind's eye.

Oh God.

Oh God.

Oh _God..._

What had he done?

* * *

Tweek stared out of his window, wishing the gnomes would come and kidnap him and hold him for ransom or something. If he was kidnapped, it would mean he would be far away from here. And even though he didn't think his parents would believe in the gnome's existence long enough to pay the ransom, which would mean that Tweek would be sacrificed on their Underwear Altar to their horrible cottony heathen gods, it would still mean he would be far away.

And far away from here was exactly where he wanted to be.

Or rather, far away from Craig Tucker.

He coughed, rolling over in his bed pitifully and sighing when his heated, flushed face hit a cool corner of his pillow.

Tweek was sick. And it was all his fault, too.

Neither of his parents had been home when he had finally arrived after being kicked out of Craig's house, and so neither of them had been privy to the wide, panicked set of his eyes, or the way his face was devoid of all color, the way his limbs shook in a way that anyone would realize was not normal, not even for Tweek. He'd gone up to his room and immediately slid under the covers, pulling them up over his head as he hugged his knees to his chest, laying on his side and trying vainly to quell his tremors into something more tolerable. And there he had lain, for hours, barely moving in any other way that wasn't shaking, not even to get more coffee. In fact, he didn't drink coffee at all. His favorite silver and green thermos was forgotten by his side; Tweek stared at it with big empty eyes, looking as if he had no idea what it was.

His parents, of course, when they finally did come home, saw no reason to come up and check up on Tweek. They rarely ever did, unless Tweek's dad was getting him for school or they had to talk about something, which the blond never ended up fully getting anyway. So the coffee-addict passed the rest of the day alone, practically petrified with fear and haunted by Craig's piercing glare and twisted fangs. He had fallen asleep sometime around eleven at night when he crashed from caffeine withdrawals. Tweek never noticed.

And when his father came to get him in the morning for school, he found a son that could barely crack his eyes open in awareness, who was also running a fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

Suffice to say, Tweek stayed home that day.

When he had come home after his terrified run, he should have cooled down, relaxed. Instead he had buried into covers, not allowing his body to return to its normal state as it should have. Add in the fear-paralyzed mind and caffeine-withdrawals working against him, and you had the recipe for one sick Tweek. Now on his third day away from school, the blond rolled over once again, trying to clear his throat of the lump that had been there for three days, and wondered if it was really because he was sick.

Craig's face flashed in his mind and he shivered, his bottom lip trembling. He hadn't cried once since the other had practically banished him from his presence. It surprised him. He remembered crying when he'd lost his thermos, when he'd thought Craig had taken it as a spoil of war, when he had fallen down the stairs at Craig's house…he'd thought the fear at least from the encounter would drive the tears from his eyes. But he remained dry-eyed, and the lump in his throat remained. It made it hard to breathe sometimes.

His mind was silent. It had been that way since That Day. It never failed to scream out paranoid thoughts and fears over anything else, but as soon as his thoughts turned to Craig, it fell silent as though he had gagged it.

It was being gagged a lot lately, it seemed.

The blond curled up tighter, a hoarse cough fighting its way from his throat. His fever had broken yesterday, and he'd been drinking the coffee his parents regularly gave him. He was getting better. His mom said he could go back to school tomorrow. Tweek gave a whimper, the noise fading into a cough again. He didn't want to go. And he knew exactly why.

He couldn't get past Craig's expression, the anger in his words. It kept coming back, but only in stills, in bits and pieces. For the life of him, Tweek couldn't remember it all at once. It began with him tugging down but then it became disjointed, stuttering, flashing back and forth to seconds later, seconds back. It was as if his mind was staunchly refusing to show it all at once. Tweek didn't mind. He never knew what to think when it came back over and over. He just felt…

…scared. He felt scared and weak and the thought of meeting or even seeing Craig again filled him with fear. He never wanted to do anything with him again, didn't think he ever could.

Tweek really didn't want to go to school tomorrow. He closed his eyes, clenching his fingers so tightly he scraped his palms. It was all his fault, he shouldn't have done it…he'd ruined everything.

It was all his fault.

The lump in his throat throbbed, and grew.

* * *

Slinking through the dark shadows of school the next day, Tweek decided that his fears of everything bad that could happen to him in life, probable or not, were not worse than his fear of someone he had once been friends with. He jumped at every noise, whimpered and flinched at every touch of the wind. But this time it wasn't because he thought tiny aliens might sneak in through his ears and take over his brain, or because old man perverts might jump him, or even crazy axe-wielding murderers.

No, the reason his heart was thumping painfully in his chest, was because he was terrified out of his mind that he was going to run into Craig Tucker.

Finally making up his mind, he shuffled tremblingly into the empty courtyard, moving to the corner farthest away from anything, hidden in pitch black shadow. Feeling a rush of weakness, he dropped to his knees heavily and crawled on hands and knees the last three feet, sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest. And for the first time in his life, he didn't watch for incoming attacks, or keep an alert vigil. He just buried his face in his knees as a racking cough hit him, shaking his entire body; he tightened his grip around his legs and didn't bother looking up again. His thermos went ignored again. Tweek couldn't find it in himself to care; he coughed again.

He didn't see the dark blue eyes that had watched him from the moment he had set foot on campus.

* * *

The cafeteria was finally announced 'free of pests' a couple of days later—the cockroaches didn't count, they were always there—and the entire school breathed a sigh of relief at the thought that they could all eat inside again. Winter always came early to their small mountain town, and the cold months were rapidly approaching. So, now when the bell rang, all of the school populace trooped like the good little zombies they were to the newly-opened cafeteria and its promise of warm heating…with a few _notable_ exceptions.

Tweek Tweak.

And Craig Tucker.

Tweek did not set foot inside of the new cafeteria. He froze at the very thought of it. No, he wouldn't take the chance and go into such a place where there was an almost certain chance he would set eyes on Craig Tucker—he didn't know Craig didn't eat there either—or rather, that the raven would spot _him_.

And of course, the idea terrified him.

Tweek had a lot of fears. Everything and anything under the sun, including the sun, but right now they all paled in comparison to his Craigaphobia. He was almost sick with fear of what would happen if the raven caught him alone, or simply caught sight of him. He was certain the raven hated him now beyond anything. And why wouldn't he? Tweek had betrayed him. Everything had been going fine, wonderful even, until he had given in to his curiosity and thrown it all away. Craig had trusted him, invited him to his house and drank his coffee and Tweek had ruined it all. Because of simple curiosity. The blond sometimes wondered if this was what Pandora felt like after she'd opened the box.

She was luckier than he, he thought. At least she still had hope left in the box. She had something…and Tweek had nothing. Not even the _hope_ of a chance.

Occasionally he wondered if he even wanted a chance. If he had a chance to fix everything with Craig, would he take it? No, he couldn't…how could he ever be friends again with him without being scared? How could he look into his face and not see the anger that had been there, the fury and rage and _hate_? How could he not be afraid…Tweek knew it was useless; he'd never befriend Craig Tucker again.

But he missed him. He missed him worse than he had ever missed anything before in his entire life and he didn't know what to do with this 'missing'. Yes, he was terrified of the guy, but he couldn't help but yearn for the comfort he had once had, for the companionship and the acceptance. Lately when Tweek looked around, it was as if his eyes had been opened. And he realized something: _everybody_ had friends. He saw them everywhere, heard them everywhere. Chatting together in the hallways, hanging out together in the coffee shop after school, walking down the street laughing and playing around…no matter who it was, no matter how old, or young, or popular, everybody had at least one person to call 'friend'. And Tweek had no one.

His chest ached whenever that thought crossed his mind.

He saw them and he felt jealousy, envy deep and sad, making his hands twitch and clutch at empty air as he envisioned himself in such a group. Free of worry, free of his loneliness. He'd had that. He missed it. Tweek wondered how he could have gone so long without realizing he was alone, really really alone; he wondered why he'd never made friends before. How could he have gone so long without them?

The lump in his airway never failed to give a good ache and pain when he thought of that, and Tweek didn't see the pain going away any time soon. It always reminded him of Craig, and the lump and his chest throbbed again. Tweek vaguely wondered if he had some sort of mutant cancer. Then he tossed the idea away because he didn't have the energy or will to really freak out.

The coffee-addict was angry at himself, mad that he had given up such a good thing, that others had what he didn't, that he would probably never have what they had because he'd always ruin it. Being sad, scared and angry…Tweek was a confused bundle of overwhelming feelings he couldn't get rid of and it made him hurt all the worse.

Yes, that's what he was, he decided. He was hurt. He hurt on the inside, he hurt on the outside, he just…hurt.

So here he was, slumped over his desk in an empty classroom, hands tangled in his hair viciously as they so often were nowadays as his face carved out a nice little niche for itself in the hard fake wood of the desk surface. His twitches jerked through his body, no longer the slightly rhythmic shivers he was used to, now stuttering erratic jerks that caught him by surprise and made him spill things more often than usual. He wasn't drinking his coffee like he should have been, though it was easy enough to hide that fact from his parents. Tweek didn't want them to worry over him again.

His thermos was stowed away in his backpack, only taken out at infrequent intervals to take hurried sips and a gulp or two to make sure he didn't pass out or anything. The blond could almost feel it gathering dust, but for the life of him he couldn't gather enough determination to take it out or carry it around. He was just so, so, so tired…

His Zune quietly whispered music to him as Tweek cast half-lidded, vacant eyes around the empty room, wondering where he was today. He couldn't dare to go into the cafeteria or the courtyard, but he didn't trust one single classroom to keep him safe for the rest of the high school year. And none of the teachers ever ate in their rooms or bothered to lock their doors…once upon a time Tweek would have considered it trespassing, would have balked at doing such a thing, would have _never_ done it…but now all he wanted was an escape, a refuge, a place where he could be safe from Craig and not have to stare at those damn people with _friends_.

Tweek had taken to wandering through the school during lunch, going into different empty classrooms and hiding in the back for all of the lunch period, trying to keep himself under control and not snap under all these feelings, all this fear. His hand twitched as a twinge of pain ran through, and Tweek lifted it slowly from his hair to stare at it for a second, uncomprehending.

Ah, the blisters from his burned hand. He'd accidentally ripped a hole in the fragile healing skin. Watching the clear liquid ooze from the ragged thing, Tweek loosened his other hand from his hair, picking at the broken skin. More shocks ran up his arm but the coffee-addict didn't notice, slowly exposing the new red, wet skin underneath the fairly large blister. Finally noticing that it _hurt_, Tweek stopped, letting the hand rest back down on the table. The other went straight back into his hair, tangling and knotting until it hurt more and he couldn't feel his healing hand any more. He should put a band-aid or something on it, he decided quietly. Infections were never a good thing, no matter how horrible and hurt he felt.

'_If I should call you up, invest a dime, and you say you belong to me and ease my mind…_' The slow words of the Filter remix came through Tweek's headphones and he bit his lip, fumbling for the white Zune somewhere on the desk. '_Imagine how the world could be, so very fine, so happy together_—' He changed the song and sighed.

Jesus, he was so pathetic. Craig at least was mad and angry, like he should be. And Tweek on the other hand was acting like…_this_. Sad and lonely and missing the one friend he had ever had, hiding away from everybody else in different classrooms. Basically useless and pathetic. He couldn't even be normal again, or whatever he used as his own normal. His hand hurt again.

A picture of Craig flitted into his head again, but this time it wasn't angry or full of rage. It was his eyes, only his eyes, when had Tweek ever seen anything but his blue eyes? So long ago, it seemed, when he had stared over the edge of that couch to Tweek and the blond had first realized Craig himself might be a little lonely. Tweek's hands left their respective places to hug himself tight, trying to breathe right through his choked throat. Was _he_ lonely? Did_ he_ miss Tweek? A friend? A traitor? He couldn't tell, couldn't know and in some ways that was worse than the raven flat out telling him he hated his guts and wanted to rip them out.

The lunch bell rang and Tweek hugged himself tighter, a weariness settling in the curves of his legs. He could just stay here. No one would notice him for a while, at least until he had a spaz attack, but he could just hide here…no, everybody would see him and know, because people still stared and whispered and Tweek would only have more of that if he stayed here. Pushing back a whine, he stood up shakily, limbs quivering erratically as he made his way into the restless halls and growing crowds. Again, the calls rang out; the touches landed on him from the surrounding people as he made his way close to the lockers, but he didn't react, didn't feel or hear them. He just wanted to be home and crawl into his bed and not have to think about Craig or what he did or how everything was his own fault.

The weekend came quickly enough, but Tweek was happy enough to stay home and do nothing. Of course, he couldn't quite do that; he always worked with his dad on the weekends for a couple of hours, and he couldn't stop without arousing his parents' suspicions. And if there was anything he didn't want, it was his mom and dad finding out how he had betrayed his only friend. They'd disown him out of shame, for certain! Deep inside, a little part of the old Tweek whimpered in paranoid fear.

Tweek wiped down a table quietly, making the table quiver when his body jerked too roughly. It was Saturday and he was working, wishing time would pass faster so he could hide up in his room. He saw his dad sneak glances at him periodically. Apparently he sensed something. Damn those tingling coffee senses. He wondered if he should drink a bit more coffee while he was in here.

He didn't want to be in here. He wanted to be alone.

Sighing again, Tweek finished the table and moved back to man the counter, continuing his wiping motions and attempting to channel some of the oppressing thoughts into the rag. Then they would leave him alone and be on the table and not in his head. So what if someone else sat here and got infected by feelings of loneliness and sadness? So what if they couldn't handle it and went home and committed suicide that led to a police investigation in which they would hire a medium and find Tweek's oppressing-thought waves exuding from the table and stuck him in prison for murder? So what? He was just...so...

Just so...

Overwhelmed, Tweek rested his head on the countertop, fighting the choking feeling strangling the inside of his throat. How had he done it before? Before...when he didn't have Craig, when he had been all alone and he'd believed that having friends was bad and dangerous? How had he made it without having any of this horrible depression? What had been his trick, how had he done it?

He couldn't...couldn't remember what he had done, how it felt...how he had been able to wander to and fro each day without ever thinking about anything like this. It hadn't even been that long ago but the harder he tried to remember those days the easier it slipped from his mind, like an elusive smoke he tried to clutch with his jittery fingers. Tweek was so desperate for an escape, for a way to forget and just be normal again but...

He couldn't remember how.

The bell to the front door rang out its little notes but Tweek ignored it, his eyes closed as he rested his head on the smooth surface. Could he ask his father if he could take off early? He'd never done that before but maybe if he made some kind of excuse or something, he could lie...he could say he was going to hang out with friends. Tweek clenched his hands, the lump throbbing again.

A shadow fell over him, and Tweek jerked a bit as the light dimmed behind his eyelids. Opening them wearily, he began to straighten up, his eyes tiredly roaming slowly up that midnight blue hoodie with a single pocket in the front...

Tweek froze, not daring to look any farther up. He knew who's hoodie that was. He would know it anywhere, even if he were blind, deaf and dumb. He'd know it by _touch_. But if it was here...his blond bangs hung over his down-turned face, hiding the panicked, wide set of his eyes as his breath hitched. The air seemed too heavy, his lungs too small. He couldn't breathe right.

Oh God.

Oh God...

What should he do?

A twitch jerked through his body as he saw a blue-sleeved arm move and lay a five-dollar bill on the counter, sliding it over with two fingers. Tweek stared at it for a second, mind blank with panic, before he finally remembered what to do with himself. His feet slid back slowly, automatically, as he turned his back on the money, his destination the coffee and espresso machines on the other counter.

He could _feel_ the eyes on him, boring through his back and scrutinizing his every move, his every twitch...Tweek's hands shook in more than just their normal jitters as he reached for a Styrofoam cup from the tall stack. He didn't want _him_ to be here, not anywhere _near_ him; he could still clearly see the hate and anger in those eyes when he had seen them last; he was too frightened, fear blaring through his mind and making him unable to think. Finally holding the cup in front of him, he watched it quiver in his hands, his insides feeling as if some giant monster had come and snatched up all of his inner organs.

He couldn't remember what to make. The order, the coffee he had always made for _him_ had escaped his mind like water through a sieve. Frozen, standing there for what seemed like an eternity, Tweek could only feel the cold breath being dragged reluctantly into his lungs, and hear the blank buzz of his mind as it vaguely wondered what he should do. The most sensible thing to do was to turn around, face the person staring at him from behind and ask him what he wanted to order. But there was no way Tweek would do that. The fear, the debilitating _terror_ that gripped him now at the mere knowledge that _he_ was standing right behind him, separated by only a counter which they both knew he could easily jump...no, any words he could have possibly forced out were trapped below the lump, which had only seemed to grow in size; it choked him and threatened to deprive him of enough oxygen to make him pass out there on the floor, at the mercy of the one person he feared above anything else.

Funny how he couldn't even think the name without thinking he was going to throw up out of dread.

There was something like a click, and Tweek remembered what the order was, what he had always served him. So simple, so easily it came to him, he wondered if he had ever really forgotten it. The eternity broke and Tweek began to fill the cup up not any more than five seconds after he had grabbed it.

His movements were agonizingly, quiveringly careful, as Tweek strove to keep himself under control. He didn't know what would happen if he spilled the drink; Craig already hated him beyond anything for what he had tried to do. Why was he here? Why had he brought his dangerous, frightening presence here in front of Tweek? Neither had spoken a word; did he want to intimidate him? Impress upon him the fact that if he so wanted to, he could have killed Tweek back in his room and no one would have spoken a word? Because if so, he had succeeded. Tweek was scared, and intimidated, and terrified out of his wits and he just wanted Craig to go away and leave him alone and _never come back!_

His hands fitted the lid on the rim of the cup, finishing it off. Before he could think about it, he had reached for a straw, pushing it down on the plastic 'X' into the liquid inside. Tweek stared at it miserably. Old habits...

Head still looking down, he turned back to the front counter, his shivering growing worse. But he was so close. Just a few more steps and _he_ could walk out and Tweek would be fine and safe again. He quivered as he put the drink down within the other's reach, quickly removing his hand and taking the five-dollar bill, ringing it up on the register and ripping off the receipt and change.

He saw a hand outstretched to take the items but it was getting to be too much for him; Tweek dropped it all on the counter and fled to the safety of the back room, feeling the sensation of tears rising but still accursedly dry-eyed.

Craig Tucker was left alone as his piercing gaze fixed on the slowly swinging open and closing door, his face impassive. There was a shuffle and he looked up to see Mr. Tweak approach him, an unusually solemn look upon his face. He hesitated, as if reluctant to say what he was planned to.

"I...I don't know what you did to my boy, but he's never been this way, this...scared. And from what I just saw, _you_ have something to do with it." He paused, a determined set to his mouth as his hand slowly rose to point to the door. "I'm sorry, but I cannot tolerate you in here any longer. Leave, Mr. Tucker. Leave this place and never return."

There was no surprise on the raven's face, no anger or sadness or confusion. There was just a blank acknowledgment as Craig gathered up his change, receipt and drink, and silently left the coffee shop.

* * *

The rest of the weekend was nothing but torture for the blond. Shut up in his room, he barely left the safety of his bed, and only for the necessities in which he couldn't stay any longer. He could have sworn he'd lost half his body weight—which wasn't that much to begin with—with the lack of food he ate. Just two days, but add in the rest of the week and a half that he hadn't been eating right—if one could call the meager chocolaty snacks he devoured occasionally during the day 'eating right'-and his sickly skin tone and more-prominent ribs made more sense, not to mention the even darker bags under his eyes.

There was no comfort in waiting for sleep-deprivation to knock him out for a couple of hours; nightmares plagued what little sleep arrived and threw him awake so fast it was like he'd never fallen asleep at all. The gnomes were besides themselves in confusion, having started their raids again and finding not only a sleepless, fully awake Tweek staring at them blankly, but no traps whatsoever, and no resistance to half of his underwear supply being carried off. They'd taken to poking him lightly with sticks, to which Tweek just closed his eyes and pretended they weren't there.

They continued poking him anyway, those damn little traitorous bastards.

But how could he care, how could he possibly eat or sleep or concentrate on anything when he was trapped in his own drowning misery? He had accomplished what he had most feared: he'd become static noise to Craig Tucker. What else could his inaction and silence meant in the coffee shop? If anything, Tweek would have expected Craig to jump over that counter and start beating the shit out of him. Maybe slam his head so hard down on the counter he would have cracked his skull over it and then left Tweek to die. Something harsh and bloody and very painful and most likely resulting in death. Through some kind of twisted luck he and Tweek hadn't seen each other at all these past couple of days, and while Tweek was ever grateful for that, he knew that the next time they met would most likely be the last, and also his last experience on Earth.

Craig had sent someone to the hospital just for making fun of his mask last year, and for the crime of trying to take it off, Tweek had expected nothing less than death. But...

...he had done nothing.

Not a word, not a move toward him, and probably not even a real glance toward him. Craig had ignored his presence as if it wasn't even there, as if some stranger he had never met was taking his order.

_People like that don't deserve my attention. _The remembered words made Tweek wince. He remembered the lifeless stare, the hatred boiling deep within that impassive gaze.

_They're just static noise...and I block things like that out._

And now Tweek knew it. He'd achieved what was probably worse than being killed at the raven's hands. To Craig Tucker, he simply didn't exist anymore. He was nothing. Not even a nobody, not even an annoyance or an irritant or some kind of measly bug under his gaze, he was _nothing_.

The thought scared him so much. It terrified him.

The crazy freaks at school were already out to get him with their Evil Eyes and curses and _touching_, but now Craig was no longer his friend. And to make it worse, Tweek was _nothing_ to him. Though no one wanted to admit it, no one wanted to say it, Craig was a god at school. He ruled through the very fear he instilled into the students, whether on purpose or not, even though he did nothing with all that power. Once all the school populace took notice of the way Craig ignored Tweek to the utmost extent, forget them coming after his life, they'd do the same thing and he would become _nothing_ in the eyes of everybody. And then what? It was one thing to be ignored, but if he was _nothing_, then what was there to reassure him he was _something_ and _someone_?

Without any people providing the evidence to his own being, how long before Tweek just faded out of existence like some kind of dust! And then what would happen to his soul? That is, did he even have a soul after being nothing? Did nothing even have souls? WHERE WOULD HE GO?

What if it had already started? What if while he was so caught up in his misery, people had already started to take notice of Craig's attitude toward Tweek and spread around that Tweek was no longer someone to notice, someone to look at or see?

Tweek whimpered in the confines of his covers, covering his face with his trembling hands. The edges of the band-aids over the broken blisters scratched at him lightly, the tiny bits of exposed sticky sides pulling at his hair in tiny tugs. He was driving himself crazy with all of this, going around and around in endless misery-filled circles until he could barely breathe and think and see.

And tomorrow was Monday. Another school day. Another risk filled day where he might accidentally run into Craig.

But then again it wouldn't really matter, would it? Craig thought he was nothing. He was static noise to him. If they really did run into each other, no matter if Tweek saw him, if he reached out to touch him...it would be like they had never met. Like they had never run into each other in the first place. Craig would take no notice of him.

It didn't matter, then.

Tweek screwed his eyes shut and clenched his hands, already dreading the next day, and every day following it.

His depressed mood was no better the next day, when his father knocked on his door and came in, announcing cheerfully that it was time for another "beautiful, coffee-colored day". Tweek followed him in silence. Again, another night with no sleep, another night filled with twisting thoughts and restlessness, punctuated only by the gnomes coming in and poking him until they grew bored, then sitting on his chest and playing Uno until they left at 4:30 in the morning.

Tweek bid his father goodbye when he was dropped off and started his random wandering of the school until he ended up at the empty courtyard and curled up in a corner of it, alone. He had not seen or heard or noticed anything that could be Craig Tucker and for that he was ever so grateful; he had the feeling that if he really did run across him and he saw Craig so blatantly ignoring his very existence right in front of him, he wouldn't be able to hold back those blocked up tears and start bawling in a collapsed heap right there on the concrete courtyard floor. Not that Craig would care of course, but Tweek would, and he didn't want the raven to see him as pathetic as that and possibly ignore him even more for being such a pussy.

The time passed as slow as a constipated snail and Tweek watched with blank eyes as the courtyard steadily filled, the noise growing louder and louder until Tweek felt a headache throbbing the the recesses of his skull. But he was welcome for the noise; the louder and more painful it got, the more it helped to drive away lonely and anguished thoughts all centering around the object of his fear.

But eventually like every day, the bell rang and the students slowly scattered into the halls, leaving Tweek to pick himself and his stuff off the dusty ground and wipe his hands off on his pants and thin jacket, wishing he had some sort of napkin or something. Running his hands over his jacket he noticed an odd sort of bulge in one of the pockets and pulled it out, feeling his throat close at the sight.

It was that tiny bottle of Purell Craig had given him, on the day that Tweek had been freaking out about all the people touching him. The same day he had burned his hand. The same day he had driven Craig away with his betrayal.

Tweek squeezed a tiny bit onto his hands, rubbing them together morosely as he walked to his first period class. Again he was met with stares and whispers and that sort of thing, the same thing that had bothered him so much a while back. But now they did nothing to him, gave him no comfort, even if it meant that they weren't ignoring his existence and he wasn't going to fade into non-being. He simply walked past, sitting in his seat as silently as he could with all his jerks and shudders, ignoring the rest of the world and wishing dearly that school didn't exist.

He perked up only slightly when he heard the teacher announce a test and only to join the rest of the class in a soul-heaving groan, biting his nails anxiously as a bit of old-Tweek nervousness reared its head. He fiddled with his pencil in a way that was almost like himself, taking a look at the test and trying to push thoughts of Craig out of his mind.

Tweek was halfway to working out the first problem when it occurred to him he had no idea what the problem had even said. He cast a trembling look over the random mess of scrawlings and numbers on his work page and looked over the problem once more. He stared at it for a long while before rereading it again.

'_Prove the following equation: cos__2__α— cos__2__α(sin__2__α) = cos__4__α_'

He stared at it some more, the words and abbreviations fighting to penetrate into his mind. Tweek had the sense that this was a relatively easy problem, but for some reason, it seemed to be written in some sort of unintelligible gibberish. He read it once, twice, thrice more, before he finally realized that no matter how many times he read it, he couldn't get past the first word in the directions before it lost all meaning to him. It just...wasn't connecting somehow.

Tweek decided to skip that one and move on to the next one, but it happened again. And again and again and again. All the problems were nothing but scribbles to him. Tweek stared at the hasty crossed-out work on his work page and test sheet, blank eyes trying to comprehend what was happening. He never had problems with this. It was an easy section. In fact, he could distinctly remember going over a problem just like this on the homework but it just wasn't coming to him. It was all one, giant, blank.

Tweek put his pencil down slowly, feeling lost and confused. Putting his head down, he took in a shuddering, shivering nervous breath, closing his eyes in an attempt to straighten out his mind.

And once again Craig's hate-filled face entered his mind.

Tweek turning in a completely blank test paper once time was called.

It was the same in all his following classes as well. No matter how easy the subject, no matter how many times they had gone over the topic continuously, Tweek couldn't concentrate on anything. All he could see was angry eyes and feel the same terrified helplessness he had felt back in the coffee shop on Saturday. Another headache was forming in his skull but it wasn't like the morning, distracting him from Craig-thoughts. No, it just made them worse, and now his head throbbed mercilessly with every passing second. His stomach growled and he felt a bit nauseous. Tweek wondered when was the last time he had eaten. He thought he could remember that fudge cookie he'd had in the morning on Sunday, when he'd gone with his father to work and he'd been expected to eat something. But other than that...

He put a hand to his head, closing his eyes as the bell rang once again—making his head throb again in pain—and he stood up to go to his next class. Just this period, and he could go and have lunch, and eat something, anything. Maybe that would stave off this sick feeling for a bit, and it might even help with the headache. Picking up his things with jittery hands that nearly scattered everything instead of picking it all up, he made his way out, sticking to the lockers as usual as he fought to reach his next class unscathed. Hopefully not trampled. Anything but that.

He might have made it too, if a familiar voice hadn't called out to him just then.

"Hey, Tweek!"

Lifting his head just the tiniest bit, he saw familiar brown hair, and a bright red jacket. It took a moment for the name to appear in his mind. Clyde...?

Oh yeah, Clyde.

"H-h-hey..." He managed to sputter out, rubbing at his temple. Jesus, maybe he should go and get something from the snack machines or something, he needed to concentrate!

The brunet approached him carefully, looking around almost nervously, and it occurred to Tweek's sluggish mind that he might be looking out for Craig's appearance. When he saw nothing blue and black and deadly dangerous, he relaxed, pushing some random guy out of the way to get to the blond. "Hey, man, what's up?" He asked cheerfully, smacking the other's shoulder. Tweek resisted the urge to slap his hand away; he should have figured out by now that Clyde was one of those weird touchy people.

"No...nothing." Tweek tried for a smile. "So, uh..." he tried to make his brain work and figure out something to say. "...how's i-it -_ngh- _going?"

To his blurred surprise, Clyde turned a little red, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, um, that's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about. I didn't really get to thank you much last time, 'cuz...you know..." he waved a little nervously and Tweek nodded, feeling his head throb again. Because Craig had come in and scared the living daylights out of both of them. "But, anyway, uh, I took your advice, and I talked to Butters." He smiled brightly, as if this made completely sense.

Tweek was confused for a second before he remembered. Clyde had come into the coffee shop depressed. They had talked. Butters was mad at him, because...why again? He forced his brain to run. Because...because he was jealous and afraid that Clyde was going to abandon him and his friendship for Craig. And Tweek had said some stuff which had seemed to make Clyde feel better. "Oh. A-and how did th-that -_erk-_ go?"

"Well, it was a little hard at first, 'cause Butters didn't really want to talk to me, but I finally got him to listen and I told him all the things that you said I should tell him, like what I like about him and stuff..." Here Clyde turned a sort of deeper red. Tweek noticed it vaguely. "And, uh...well, things are better now, and he believes me. We're a lot...closer..."

There was a bit of a pause, and a kind of awkward silence fell over the both of them, or at least, over Clyde. Tweek was just busy trying not to throw up. Throw up _what_, he wasn't certain, seeing as he doubted he had anything left in his stomach to throw up, but the feeling was there nonetheless. He rubbed a bit harder at his throbbing head.

"Hey..." Clyde was peering at him, as if just now taking in Tweek's appearance. "Tweek, are you okay? You look...well you look pretty sick."

"_Nghh_...y-yeah..." The blond tried to wave it off but the other wouldn't be deterred, stepping a bit closer, a worried frown on his face.

"No, man, you look really sick. All pale and stuff...hey, do...do you need to go to the clinic?" Clyde gripped onto his sleeve determinedly and Tweek wearily pondered it over. Maybe they had snacks there...and he could possibly call home and get to rest in his own bed and not have to worry about school for another day. Maybe even a couple of days, if his parents worried enough. Besides, it didn't look like Clyde was going to be letting go any time soon.

"..._mhnnn_, y-yeah...I th-think I do..." he nodded wearily and the other looked satisfied enough to drag him down a different hallway than the one he had been going on, toward the clinic. Tweek looked at him. "A-aren't you gonna be l-late?"

Clyde scratched at his cheek hesitantly, still leading him through the crowds of the hallways. "I can get a pass from the nurse...and I think Butters will understand if I tell him..." The last part he muttered lowly under his breath, and while Tweek caught it, he had not time to process it, as someone very roughly and harshly slammed into him, barreling past both of them. Tweek stumbled and Clyde actually cursed in shock, drawing back. "What the...watch where you're going, jackass!"

The guy paid no attention, and was already disappearing into the blockade that was rapidly forming in the hallway. Tweek looked around; a lot more people were rushing toward them , and he shoved down the tiny part of him that screamed to run or otherwise be trapped in a human stampede. Clyde looked confused as he looked around the rapidly swelling group of people. Being a couple of inches taller than Tweek, he craned his head to look over the crowd.

"Oh, I think there's a fight or something." He frowned a bit. "Man, there's like one every week." Shaking his head, he tried to pull Tweek back. "We can go around another way, I don't think this'll clear up any time soon, and the pound'll probably be here any second."

Tweek was still staring hazily back at the growing crowd as he was being dragged away, and before he really knew what he was doing he was diving back into the crowd, his hands strangely bereft of Clyde's and the lingering feeling that he'd jerked his hand away from the other on his mind. He heard the brunet's surprised protest but another rushing person cut between them, and then Tweek was alone in the growing mass, trying to get close like everyone was.

He wasn't sure what was making him do this, but he just kept moving forward, squirming his thin body through the tiniest of gaps in the people all while a strangely expectant and suspicious feeling ached in his mind. Another wave of nausea hit him but he managed to beat it back, weakly pushing past somebody, and finally able to see the fight.

The coffee-lover felt his heart settle in a somewhat perverse satisfaction at the sight. Of course. He had been right without even knowing it.

It was Craig. It was always him, it seemed.

Against more people than was fair—which was one-on-one, and occasionally one-on-two, depending—he held his own in a way that let Tweek know he was already used to defending himself against multiple attackers. As if Tweek didn't know that already. And again, that twisted look of pure rage and hate messing up the normal clarity of his blue eyes, making them murky and dark. Oh how he hated that look. Tweek could barely think but he knew he hated that look more than anything. Probably because it was the last look Craig had ever given him, right before he'd thrown him out of his room and house.

And there he was, fighting again. Tweek watched him from almost right on the front line, his view clear and unimpeded by any people in front of him. For a moment he did nothing, watching somewhat disinterestedly as Craig received a punch to the chest and staggered back before he kicked back in a manner that hit the guy in the pelvis. Ooh, that was bone, and hitting bone always hurt...while Craig was kicking his assailant another had lunged to tackle him but Craig managed to back up a step, almost hopping and still somewhat unbalanced from his kick to throw a punch at the other guy's face; the sight would have been comical had it not been in such a serious, angry confrontation. This was a violent brawl, and Tweek could tell that none of them would come out of this without some cuts and bruises. Already Craig had a red mark blooming on his upper right cheek, peeking over the mask still bared and snarling in nasty rage.

Tweek shuddered at the sight of the black cloth, and couldn't help glancing away guiltily for a second, then looking back the next. The mask was so much more freakier now, more unreal, more...frightening to him.

Amidst the roaring noise, he wondered if he should jump in to help. He had done it before, had defended Craig in a fight, had fought beside him once, and he felt a slight tug at him that was the part of him that was still attached to Craig as a friend yell that he should be right there with him, throwing punches. And maybe if he had been well-fed—as much as Tweek was capable of being well-fed—and he wasn't caffeine deprived and didn't have something rapidly approaching a migraine and a body about to collapse out of sleep deprivation and if just _maybe_ he hadn't been feeling so _depressed_ and _shitty_, he would have; he would have jumped straight in without thinking. But he wasn't exactly the most levelheaded he'd ever been, and right now his body wasn't really capable of doing much than just standing and watching with vacant eyes.

Craig's head snapped to the side after a quick closed-fisted jab to it, angry eyes involuntarily sweeping the gathered roaring crowd...and alighting on Tweek with an almost careless ease, as if he had known he was there all along. For one tiny, insignificant, infinitesimal second, their eyes met; Tweek could have almost tricked himself into thinking that Craig was merely looking past him, enforcing his 'Tweek-doesn't-exist-and-he-never-did' policy, but it was the slight widening of blue eyes and, with a flicker, the angry look that changed to something almost resembling shock that made Tweek think that...Craig was really looking at him.

There was...something there, a look in those madness-possessed, shocked eyes, something that made Tweek's innards flinch and twist in a way that had nothing to do with his hunger or nausea. It was like...it was like Craig was looking at him standing there so silent and staring and wondering why he wasn't helping him. Tweek almost thought he saw hurt in that slice of face, the only thing that the raven ever exposed. Of course, that was probably just his delusional mind, a hallucination from exhaustion and hunger.

Then the second passed and Craig was stumbling nearly into the crowd, lunging back to tackle another guy, arms spreading around the other's waist as he drove the point of his shoulder into the place right below his ribs, and sending both of them crashing into another guy right behind them. The raven was just getting up amongst the crowd's boos and cheers, when someone dove forward...

...and hooked his hand right onto Craig's mask.

There was a single collective gasp from the crowd, and the blond thought he might have been one of those gasping, as the crowd suddenly pressed close, the drama and suspense of this event blowing them all away. No one had _ever _tried to take off the mask before in a fight! Tweek felt his insides freeze.

The only reason the mask wasn't ripped off in that exact moment from the very force of the lunge was because Craig had slapped both hands over his mouth and nose at that very instant, drawing back with a speed that shocked many. The other wouldn't let go so easily and he followed Craig, making him stumble and fall to the ground. They were yelling at each other, fierce angry words that escaped Tweek's hearing because the crowd had grown so much louder and all he could hear from the screams around him was

"Take it off take it off _take it off take it off TAKE IT OFF __TAKE__. __IT__. __OFF__!_"

Tweek couldn't move, he was frozen as he watched in stunned surprise. It was now that the beaten assailants made their come back, and suddenly they were all there, gripping Craig, holding him to the floor, trying to pry his arms away as that one other boy strove to unmask the raven, his own face twisted in unnatural triumph and hate. Craig was kicking, lunging and flailing his upper body but it was no use and he was being held back the crowd was getting too loud and now Tweek saw _fear_ in those blue eyes for the first time the very first time

"No."

The whispered word made no difference in the sudden murderous shrieks and screams and roars of everyone around him, but Tweek felt as if something was burning in his stomach, his legs quivered.

"_No._"

Again the word, again no one took notice. Tweek shook more visibly, his breath coming slightly quicker. His hands felt itchy, the back of his neck felt strangely hot. And then the the raven's arms were loosened and the mask slipped down the smallest inch the crowd _roared_...

"_NO YOU DON'T __TOUCH__ THAAAAAAAT!_"

The raging shriek tore through the noise of the crowd and the noise dropped down a notch as people stared around for the source, but Tweek was stabbing forward, swinging his backpack off of his shoulders, screaming.

"RAAAAHHHHHH!" The angry, furious scream sounded harsh and demonic in his own ears but Tweek was deaf and he had eyes only for _that_ one; his arms swung back as he bent his back...and then he arched forward, slamming the bulky object into the side of the hated boy's face. Instantly the head snapped back on its neck in a disturbing way, the hands vanishing their grip on Craig's mask. The boy fell to the side, dazed, almost unconscious and definitely out for the count but Tweek wasn't done, wasn't anywhere near done; he leapt onto the other's chest, holding his backpack in two hands high above his head before he slammed it down, down, down, onto the other's face, still shrieking and howling inarticulately.

He didn't know how long he did it but suddenly there were hands on him, pulling him away, or trying to. Tweek mindlessly clamped his knees around the others sides, refusing to be dragged away from the vile person who had dared betray Craig in the same way he himself had. _No_, it would _not_ happen again, it was bad, it was forbidden, and he would NOT ALLOW IT!

The backpack was ripped from his grasp and two arms wrapped around his chest, hauling him up. Tweek screamed and flailed, fingers arcing into claws as they raged to get back at the betrayer but he finally heard a familiar voice hissing in his ear.

"Tweek, _Tweek_, fucking _chill_, goddammit, stop it, _stop _it will you _calm down and fucking chill the fuck out?_"

The incensed blond slowed, letting himself hang down in Craig's grip, his toes almost four inches from the ground. His panting chest heaved with the exertion of trying to gather a breath, and as he slowly became aware, his eyes started to wander around his surroundings. The fight was over apparently; the assailants were too busy attending to their fallen friend, helping him to stand up. Tweek saw with a mild sense of horror that the boy's eyes were wavy and unfocused, and his nose and lips were bleeding profusely. He looked like he might have a black eye later.

The crowd had seemingly drawn back a little, whisperings going back and forth, but all Tweek could see was how they stared at him. Like...like they were scared, almost.

The observation made a painful twinge in his chest.

Craig put Tweek down flat on the ground, and the slight jolt traveled from his feet straight up into his head, striking up a furious headache. He would have swayed but then the nausea struck him and made him freeze and he was suddenly so, so tired...the adrenaline rush was wearing off rapidly and Tweek remembered who he really was: a spazzy kid who had missed out on one too many coffees, meals and sleep-filled nights.

He didn't...he didn't now what had come over him, what had given him so much strength when he had been so weak, but it was certainly gone now. Holding a hand to his head, Tweek stared around stupidly, feeling muggy-brained again. From the corner of his eye he could see Craig's still-masked presence almost directly behind him—he had fixed the mask properly back on his face before grabbing Tweek—...and then it hit him.

Craig had talked to him. Grabbed him and pulled him away...that wasn't what someone who was ignoring his presence and existence would do right? Craig wouldn't intervene for someone who was merely '_static noise_'...would he?

The headache, the pain and nausea felt like they receded in Tweek's awareness, as those words ran over his mind again and again and again, and overwhelming feeling rising in his breast.

_ He wasn't ignoring me, he wasn't ignoring me, he wasn't..._

As Tweek stared blankly ahead with wide eyes, the feeling in him grew, and Tweek hesitantly put the name 'hope' to it. His hands shook in more than just anticipation as he nervously glanced back, his head tilting just the slightest bit to look down at Craig's jeans. Shifting back and forth on his feet, he couldn't decide what to do. If he should look at him, at the friend he had betrayed, what would he see? Would he see disgust? Anger or...hate? Maybe Craig had just pulled him back because he didn't want to be an accomplice to murder. Tweek spared the tiniest second to look back at the guy he had driven to the ground, feeling slightly guilty. But no, he shouldn't spare any such thoughts like that, the other got what he deserved for trying to do such a horrible thing to the raven.

Of course...Tweek deserved it too. If he turned to face Craig, would he feel a fist land on his cheek? A hand at his throat? If the masked raven wasn't ignoring his existence, then maybe it was time that he meted out his own justice and punishment to Tweek and the only reason he hadn't done so at the coffee shop was because there had been too many witnesses around. The tiny flare of hope started to shrivel up, but the blond took a deep shaky breath, unwilling or incapable to fully think of all the horrible and surely terrible things that would happen to him if he turned to look at Craig.

Timidly shifting a foot, he turned halfway, hazy eyes sweeping up from dark jeans to that familiar blue hoodie, then the black and white cloth that had haunted him for so long, until he was finally looking up into seastorm-colored eyes; he quivered in expectancy of what would lie in those depths, if they were even looking at him at all.

They were.

If Tweek wasn't already trembling on the spot from sheer weariness he would have jerked in shock to see Craig looking directly at him, not past him, not over him. He wasn't ignoring him. And as a second passed, Tweek realized Craig wasn't threatening his life, or wrapping hands around his throat. In fact as he looked, he saw a quiet relief in that gaze, and something like interested confusion, as if he was some puzzle that the other had recently acquired and hadn't figured out yet.

Nothing like anger. Nothing like hate.

Tweek almost smiled from relief when Craig's gaze suddenly sharpened, and his eyes flickered up and down Tweek's form in an unrecognizable expression. The blond's breath hitched in worry as the raven looked to be about to speak, and that was when the admins arrived.

The crowd scattered—predictably—and all it took was one sweep of many eyes before they had Craig and Tweek in their grips and were hauling them away toward the office. Of course. Tweek and Craig were the criminals in the school, it was _obvious_. Tweek had the particularly nasty thought that the administrators never came _during_ the actual fight because they were busy watching from a distance and taking bets on who would win, the selfish lazy good-for-nothing bastards. He probably would have thought something even worse if he'd been any kind of lucid at that point.

The coffee-addict merely followed along quietly, jittering erratically and his headache came back in full force. Before he was quite aware of it he was sitting in a chair in the hallway by the principal's door, and the admins left after informing them that the principal would see them once their parents arrived.

Tweek let his head rest on the wall behind his chair, feeling woozy as his stomach churned in a way that it should definitely not have churned. He wasn't exactly sure where Craig was, but he assumed he was sitting on another chair as well, though where he wasn't certain. He wanted to check, to open his eyes and look and maybe talk to him but he had the sensation that if he opened his eyes he would either pass out or puke.

He found out just where Craig was, however, when a voice to his right sounded right by him.

"You look like shit."

The blond didn't bother opening his eyes or moving; what would have made him spaz and shriek only sent a rolling shudder through him. "Y-y-yeah..." he sighed.

There was a moment of silence, and the only sound that could be heard in the empty hall was that of the air conditioning working above them, the vents loud as they blew out cold air. A nervous part of Tweek was wondering if he should leave his neck so exposed as it was, when Craig spoke again.

"Why'd you do that?"

Tweek, for all his blurred thoughts and haziness, knew exactly what he was talking about, it had happened only a couple of minutes ago, hadn't it? He took a deep breath to answer. "H-he..._urgh_, he w-was...going to take o-off your mask."

Another pause. "Why does that matter? You tried to do it too."

The slight accusatory tone in that statement forced Tweek's eyes open, staring up at a ceiling tat gave him no answers and no comfort. His voice almost broke as he answered. "It's not right...a-and you didn't want it. No one..._ngh_, n-no one sh-should do that to you."

This time when silence fell, no one broke it, and Tweek closed his eyes once more for an interminable amount of time before he heard footsteps down the hallway. Cracking his eyes open, he saw Craig's mother striding down the hall, a scowl on her face. Stopping in front of them both, she stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at them both.

"Damn little troublemaking brats." She grumbled, before taking a closer look at Tweek. "Tweek, you look like shit. Where the hell have you been for so long?"

The blond cast a look at Craig before shrugging slowly, feeling his shoulders ache at the movement. She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Eat something, will you? You look about to keel over." A finger pointed to Craig. "And _you_, come on."

Craig stood and followed his mother into the principal's office and Tweek watched the door swing closed. He looked at it for a couple of seconds before slipping out of his seat, wobbling on shaky legs to lean against the door and peek hesitantly through the small window. The first time he'd jumped into a fight alongside Craig, his little fainting episode had prevented him from being able to eavesdrop on such an event as this. His curiosity reared up, and Tweek spared a moment to curse its entire existence and the shit it had put him through before pressing closer, listening intently. At least this wouldn't get him into Craig's bad graces if he was caught. He hoped.

The voices inside already sounded a bit heated. Their principal was speaking.

"...don't have to tell you how many times he has instigated fights on campus; it disrupts both our classroom time _and_ the lesson plans of our teachers to _continually_ break up the fights that _your son_ causes. Not to mention the calls I am constantly getting from angry parents who want a more harsher punishment for him!"

"I've told you, Craig doesn't '_instigate_' fights, they're the ones who start them, as he has _told_ you from the start. My boy defends himself, and I'm damn glad he does!" Tweek couldn't see the raven's mom's face from where he was, but he was certain she didn't have a smile on her face.

The principal rubbed at her head as if in pain. "Mrs. Tucker, I find that hard to believe, when the other people involved constantly say it was Craig who started them, for no reason that they could think of."

Tweek heard a loud snort. "Right, and they're all a bunch of saints who donate blood and give to the homeless, right?"

The other's voice became cold. "And I must tell you I've received a lot of complaints from both teachers and students who find his mask offensive. Do I have to remind you that it _is_ against school dress code? I think it's time he left the costumes at home, do—"

"Now hold up a goddamned minute!" Tweek was shocked to see Craig's mom slap both hands down on the principal's desk. The other woman herself looked a little stunned. "I don't think I have to remind you that you agreed to letting him wear it, right? Don't think I lost the paper either, I got it with your signature on there plain as a monkey's ass, so if you want to go there, then I can say that the next time you and I talk is on opposite sides of a fucking courtroom...got it?"

There was a pause, and the principal cleared her throat, albeit a bit shakily. "Be that as it may, Mrs. Tucker, it does not change the consequences for fighting. There will be no suspension this time, other than being sent home for today. But I must warn you: the next time Craig Tucker is brought in for fighting on school campus, he _will_ be expelled."

Tweek gasped, and he saw both of the Tucker's stiffen in shock. The lady on the other side of the desk shuffled some papers. "I think that is all for now. Have a good day, ma'am."

They both stood and the blond scrambled back, nearly falling on his butt as dizziness flooded through him, but managed to reach his seat and arrange himself in the position he used to be in before the door opened, sighing as his body relaxed and his stomach flopped. He didn't meet Craig's eyes as he stepped out, keeping his gaze studiously attached to the floor, but he heard a quiet murmur of the raven's voice and his mother strode on again, muttering under her breath about '_stupid bitches think they got everything on a fucking leash_'.

The coffee-addict resisted the urge to look as he heard the other rummage in the backpack that was left on a nearby chair to the right of him, trying to appear as if he had totally _not_ been eavesdropping. But when something appeared in the corner of his vision, he couldn't refuse looking over.

Craig was offering him a foiled package.

Tweek automatically took it, hesitantly wondering if it was a bomb or some kind of poisoned material. Under the raven's watchful gaze, he opened it nervously, revealing...tiny corn dogs?

"They're not poisoned." Craig said bluntly, turning back to the chairs and leaving Tweek to pick one up slowly. The blond scowled at it for a moment, as if that would scare away any poison that might have _possibly_ been there, and brought it to his mouth, timidly taking a small nibble of it. He had to suppress a moan as it slid down into his stomach, and almost instantly the nausea and dizziness stopped, to be replaced with a gnawing hunger. Readily popping the rest of the small corn dog into his mouth as he picked up another, he ignored the sounds of more backpack rummaging. The slightly greasy food settled into his insides like warm heat on a cold day, and he straightened up a bit, his headache lessening but not fully receding yet as he chewed steadily, eating another delicious meat-filled piece.

Tweek's backpack dropped onto the seat next to him—when had that gotten here? Had Craig carried it along with his own while they were being dragged to the office?—and his thermos was brought in front of him.

"Surprised it didn't spill..." The other muttered lowly, staring at the screw-on top. Tweek flushed a bit, putting the foil and food onto his lap as he reached out for the thermos, thinking that maybe he should start drinking his coffee right and finally get rid of the muggy-headedness .

Craig caught his hand with his free one, holding it still but gently as he examined it with calm storm-colored eyes. It was the hand Tweek had burned a while back, and though the blisters were receding and leaving slightly pink healed skin behind, he still had new band-aids on it, to prevent them from being infected or ripped open or something else truly dangerous and horrible. Holding the thermos teasingly out of reach, he said quietly,

"You'll probably end up going home too...come over, then."

Tweek gave a little start as the raven touched him, surprised beyond all measure at the heat that seeped into his hand where Craig held it. The words confused him, made him mute, but his cheeks flushed deeper as the other's eyes suddenly flickered up to him, piercing him with their sharpness like they always did. Craig wasn't too distant from him but for some reason he suddenly seemed closer. And warmer. And closer.

"Or I'll have to kick your ass next." A small curve of the mask's fangs highlighted the soft tone of the words, and Tweek hesitantly smiled with an agreeing nod. Craig seemed satisfied, and let go of Tweek's hand, putting his thermos in it instead. He grabbed his backpack and walked off down the hall, leaving Tweek alone by the chairs.

Tweek watched him go, slowly bringing his thermos closer. He unscrewed the lid, quietly taking a sip of the still-warm liquid inside. It was still full; he'd barely taken a single gulp today. Craig's words, his gestures and the way he had given him that smile...they all clearly said that the other wasn't ignoring him but there wasn't any anger or hate either, so...

Had Craig forgiven him? Could it be possible that he had been kind enough to overlook Tweek's transgression and forgive him? Then...what were they? They couldn't possibly be friends, even Tweek's mind wasn't _that_ delusional, but maybe...they were acquaintances? People who knew each other? And what about what Craig had said, about coming over to his house today; could Tweek do that? Things had happened too fast and he'd been to distracted to really let his fear of Craig and his mask get in the way, and the raven's kind gesture of giving him food had dulled even the smallest bits down but...to be alone with him, to stand face to face with him and not have a mind clouded by exhaustion and hunger...Tweek thought of the snarling fangs and hate-filled eyes and shuddered.

How could two so radically different people exist? The furious Craig who'd kicked him out...and the nice one of today who had met his eyes and talked to him. And what about the one who had visited Saturday, and stood silent and cold as stone? How he reconcile all of those together as a single person? Who was the real Craig, and who should he expect once he visited today?

Confused beyond all measure, Tweek ate the corn dogs silently, alternating with gulps from his thermos and almost breathing a sigh of relief as his stomach filled, and his hunger went away. The coffee helped his headache go away as well, and after a while Tweek was feeling more better than he had in a long time. He should probably get some kind of sleep, but again, he didn't see that happening any time soon.

Tweek's parents showed up about ten minutes later, both his mom and dad, and the blond winced a little. Both of them being here meant that they had closed the coffee shop for a while just to be here. Looking down, he avoided their sure frowns and disapproving looks, following them into the principal's office. And then they started talking.

Tweek kept his eyes focused down, nodding and shaking his head as needed, zoning out a bit. Unlike the last time, he wasn't consumed by shame or guilt at his actions. He may not have been thinking straight, but he didn't regret coming to Craig's defense, especially after what had happened. Craig had been holding his own in the fight, even if he had been outnumbered, but it had turned dirty the minute that boy had tried to unmask him. So no, Tweek wasn't feeling the slightest bit of remorse, and for the life of him, couldn't find in himself to really be affected by his parents' anger. He knew that he had done the right thing and that was all that mattered.

He would have kept quiet too, if the conversation hadn't turned to Craig.

"...started more fights in this school than anybody else, and he's missed a lot of class time because of his multiple suspensions. Poor attitude, poor grades...a bad influence all around."

Tweek jerked, and his father sounded surprised. "Really? And he seemed so nice..."

His mom nodded. "Yes, I never would have suspected it!"

"No," the principal shook her head. "That one's brought about so much trouble I don't even know where to start." Tweek saw her cast a look in his direction. "Seems such a shame Tweek here has been caught up with him. Apparently they've become recent acquaintances, and you can see how it has affected the boy. Caught fighting twice in about as many months! And I'm afraid it'll only get worse."

"Oh my..." his mother gasped.

"He's already broken his promise to me to not fight again..." his father shook his head in disappointment, and Tweek twitched a little, feeling as if this conversation was very strictly one-sided. Did no one think that maybe it was everyone else that was causing Craig to fight? Wasn't he only defending himself?

"Mr. Tucker has already been warned that another infraction will result in his immediate expulsion, and the same may come to Tweek if this continues. Again, I feel it is my duty as an educator to advise you to please help your son onto a proper path, and forbid any contact between him and what I consider to be one of the school's _worst_ failures."

"Will you _shut up?_" Tweek was surprised to hear his own voice snap out and even more starled to find he was standing up, but he had started and he wasn't going to be stopped so easily.

The principal flushed angrily. "Watch your mouth yo—"

"N-no! You just don't -_ngh-_ g-get it!" Tweek fought hard to keep his voice steady, and his recent food and caffeine intake was certainly helping . "None of you care, all y-you wanna do is have s-s-someone to -_ngh-_ blame! I-it's not Craig's fault, it's _yours_! _Erk, _e-ever notice how it's always Craig against like f-four other people? They a-always gang up on him and no one helps, it's always him alone, and they _hurt_ him, they w-_want_ to -_ngh-_ hurt him and I won't let th-that happen to _my_ friend! H-he's nice and he f-f-forgave me and you don't care but I do and I d-don't care if I get kicked o-o-out or beaten up, I'm still gonna d-defend him because you WON'T!"

There was a pause as Tweek panted, and then he sat down in a huff, face flushed as he stared at the floor again. The lady sputtered, looking to his parents for help. Instead what she got were starry-eyed parents.

"Did you hear that, honey?" His dad asked. She sniffled and nodded, biting into a random handkerchief she had pulled from nowhere.

"Defending his friend against everyone else...oh my baby boy's all grown up!"

"What a speech! What a _man_!" Tweek's dad heartily slapped the blond on the back, nearly sending his face into the edge of the principal's desk and startling a squeak out of him. "That's why you fight, son, that's _exactly_ why!"

Tweek looked up hesitantly. "Y-you're not..._augh_, mad at me f-for fighting?"

"Of course not, I'm proud of you for standing up for your friend! Hmm, now I feel a little bad for banishing him from the coffee shop..." he trailed off.

"You what!" Tweek screeched.

He waved it off. "Tell him he's free to come back any time he wants." He gave Tweek a little push. "Now the little latte needs to leave the espressos alone so they can make a stronger brew, okay?"

A bit confused, Tweek stood up again; the principal was a bit too shocked at this turn of events to really protest him leaving the room. Back outside in the hallway, he sat back outside in the chairs, wondering just what kind of horribly traumatic event turned his parents so confusingly crazy. Resting his head on the wall again, he debated whether or not to eavesdrop. But...even if he did he probably wouldn't get it anyway, Tweek realized wryly.

He didn't have to wait long. After about ten minutes they came back out, his parents smiling and completely at ease. "Well, my boy, you're free to go!" His dad beamed.

"...what?" Tweek asked hesitantly.

"You have to go home for the rest of the day but otherwise you're free as the warm steam in a coffee cup!"

The blond nodded slowly, trying to process his father's strangeness. "Um...s-so...can I go over to C-Craig's house?"

"Sure, of course!" His mother chirped. "We'll even drop you off, sweetheart!"

Tweek was glad to get a ride from his parents instead of having to walk all the way to Craig's house, which was about as far as his own house from the school and not a distance he would eagerly trek across. However, this route also had the disadvantage of being _fast_, and before he knew it they were driving down Craig's street and all of his worries were banging around in his head like miniature tornadoes.

What would happen once he got there? Which Craig would he meet? And...could there be even the tiniest chance that Craig might possibly want to be his friend again?

He left his backpack in the car and waved goodbye to his parents as they drove off, and walked nervously up the front steps to the door, stopping in front of it. His hands felt heavy; he couldn't seem to find the strength to lift them and knock on the door. Dithering with his thermos gripped tightly in one hand, he bit his lip anxiously, and timidly tapped on the door with his knuckles. He only had to wait for a couple of seconds before it swung open, revealing Craig's mom.

"So you got the day off too, eh? Well don't just stand there, get in." She let him pass and closed the door, giving him a look-over. "You're looking better...I guess." She said reluctantly, then pointed to the stairs. "Go on up, he's in his room."

Tweek nodded his thanks and made his way up, heart hammering rapidly in his chest. Jesus...he was really here. Everything was the same, nothing had changed and yet the last time he had been here...

Shaking the memory from his head—or trying to—Tweek reaching the second floor, eyes fixed on the last door on the right, the door to Craig's room. Again he paused once he reached it, shuffling from one foot to the other as he stared at the blank white wood, looking so innocent when he knew there was something dangerous lurking on the other side of it. Scratching skittishly at the side of his thermos, he gathered the strength to knock quietly, waiting a moment before pulling the door open and peeking in.

Craig was there—obviously—sitting on his bed with his laptop on his legs. He was looking up when Tweek peeked in, and the blond suddenly felt his heart give a sudden cold, painful jump as it landed on the sight of Craig's face and more importantly, his mask. He knew it wasn't real, wasn't true but all he could see in that moment was the raven's furious face and he had no choice but to look away, freezing up.

Sweet Jesus.

The sound of the other clearing his throat made him glance over (oh God) and he saw Craig close the laptop, setting it aside. There was a silence.

Tweek couldn't meet the raven's eyes, instead looking steadily at the floor in front of his own feet. For all of his worries, he couldn't look up and see which Craig looking at him, which one he was face to face with this time and any clues that could possibly tell him it might even be his last. Biting his lip, he wished Craig would say something, _anything_, but there was only a silence that grew deeper, and Tweek started to wonder if maybe he'd somehow hallucinated the nice Craig from before, and the interested look in the others' eyes. Was he here for no reason? Had he imagined the whole thing just because he wanted his friend back so badly? Was Craig merely...waiting for him to leave him alone in peace?

The coffee-addict shuddered as the thoughts became louder in his head, bouncing around madly. He didn't know, he was confused, and all he wanted was to sit and play video games with Craig and not have to worry about clutching onto him if he got scared by something.

He wanted to feel safe around him again.

The silence stretched on between them and Tweek felt the tension settle on his shoulders like a giant bag of imported coffee grounds; his chest felt too small for his rapidly beating heart. He didn't know how much more of this he could take, and it seemed the more he waited, the more heavier the weight around him got; soon the very air felt suffocating. Would Craig ever start talking? Maybe...he was waiting for Tweek to say something. The blond's toes curled in their shoes as he worriedly rubbed his fingers on the thermos. What could Craig possibly want him to say?

Well...he knew of _one_ thing that the raven wanted...or rather, deserved.

He couldn't tell how long the quiet went on unbroken, but it kept on getting heavier and then words were blurting out of his mouth, sounding small and desperate even to his own ears.

"I-I'm sorry! I know i-it was wrong, I -_ngh-_ kn-know it b-b-but...I'm sorry. I-I'm sorry..." Tweek hunched deeper into himself, one hand involuntarily tangling deep in blond hair, tugging nervously.

He didn't know what he expected Craig to do after his apology; whether or not he expected some sort of yelling, or punishment, or being told to get out of the house like before. But what Craig did went against any and all possibilities that he could have though of.

There was silence, and then, "What's the best part about putting a baby in a blender feet-first?"

Tweek blinked, taking a second before looking up hesitantly to meet Craig's unwavering gaze, trying not to flinch at the cloth fangs. The raven leaned a little forward, and Tweek's hand loosened a bit on his hair.

"Seeing its face when you turn it on."

The words took a moment before they finally sank in, but then Tweek gave a reluctant chuckle, then another before he was laughing, and the other gave a bark of laughter himself at the twisted joke. After the sounds faded, they were silent, the blond's gaze flickering between the floor and Craig's face every couple of seconds as he took a slurp of his coffee; the sound seemed too loud for the quiet. He saw the raven reach up to finger the mask, slipping the bottom edge of the cloth between two digits.

His voice was musing, a quiet murmur. "Didn't think you'd do something like that."

Tweek flushed, legs shuffling back and forth as he looked away in embarrassment. He didn't say anything; the lump still stuck in his throat throbbed.

"Do you get scared?"

The monotone question gave nothing away and the coffee-addict looked back, surprised. "W-what?"

Craig gave a flickering gesture to his face. "My mask. It scare you?"

Tweek opened his mouth but nothing came out; he bit his lip and nodded hurriedly, then somehow added, "N-not...not...after a while...-_ngh-_ i-in the beginning..."

"Now?"

Tweek thought back to the bared fangs, the rage-filled look, the way the cloth stretched eerily with hissed words, and he looked away quickly, unwilling for Craig to see the truth in his eyes.

The other, of course, saw it easily. He said nothing for a second. "...alright." The tone was for some reason determined and Tweek looked up to see Craig reach up, pause, and tug his hat off slowly, revealing the rest of his midnight-stained hair...before they reached behind his head to the knot tying the cloth together.

A sudden shriek and Tweek realized he had lunged across the space of the room, hands pressing to Craig's mouth as his own babbled, "NO! N-no, you c-c-_can't_ I'm not s-supposed to see!"

A raised eyebrow and a hand slipping down to push the thermos away that had smacked into his cheek and Tweek jerked in shock, jumping back as he apologized rapidly. Craig ignored him, leaning back to rest his back against the wall.

"Tweek, I owe you."

"W-what?" Tweek's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. "N-no you d—"

"Tweek." Craig repeated. "I _owe_ you. After everything...after today, I owe you. Shut up."

The blond pursed his lips, feeling that this last part was a bit unnecessary but obeying it nonetheless. They were much closer now, Tweek's legs pressing against the front of the bed as he felt a rising anticipation in his chest. This...couldn't possibly be happening, could it? He came over, expecting maybe punishment, maybe forgiveness, and Craig was...this was a hallucination, wasn't it?

But he knew better than that and held his breath as the raven's hands returned to the back of his head; Tweek met Craig's gaze as it studied him intently, watching him carefully with those piercing blue eyes. The mask slipped, was finally pulled off, letting the blond see Craig's entire face for the first time in almost two years.

Tweek only took one look before he started screaming.

* * *

**A/N:** Trololololol. As if I would just give it out so easily XDDDDD And who knows, maybe it IS a hallucination! Muwahahahaah, NO ONE KNOWS! Well...okay, a few people know, but 99.99% of y'all don't :D

So, just to say this, backpacks are dangerous. I very rarely write about things of which I don't have some kind of experience with, and I have actually been smacked across the face with a fully loaded backpack back in the eighth grade. I don't really remember why (my entire recollection of that day is a bit hazy...) but I do remember the chick who hit me (my best friend [yes, I had abusive friends. S'okay, I was abusive right back XD] at the time whose nickname was Kate) and the fact that I got a concussion and threw up not too long after. I didn't go to the hospital though; I managed to tough out the rest of the school day, which I now know was a really stupid thing to do XD

But hey, I still got my brain cells, right? :P Anyway, long story short, backpacks hurt. Really anywhere you get hit with them.

Also, not eating for a day and a half has some really bad effects on you. (No durrr XD) When I'm writing/typing I have the really bad habit of forgetting to eat, and one day (I was in pg 15 of this actually) I started getting really nauseous and I had a horrible headache and could barely get up without feeling like I was going to throw up. Well, I didn't know what the hell was wrong so I toughed it out for an hour or two (five) before getting a sausage to see if eating would distract me. And lo behold I felt better. That was when I realized I hadn't eaten anything in almost two days. Hahaha, it was kind of funny...now it is, anyway xD

* * *

_ Tweek reaching the second floor, eyes fixed on the last door on the right, the door to Craig's room. Again he paused once he reached it, shuffling from one foot to the other as he stared at the blank white wood, looking so innocent when he knew there was something terribly dangerous lurking on the other side of it. Scratching skittishly at the side of his thermos, he gathered the strength to knock quietly, waiting a moment before pulling the door open and peeking in._

_ Craig was there—obviously—sitting on his bed with his laptop on his legs. He was looking up when Tweek peeked in, and the blond suddenly felt his heart give a sudden cold, painful jump within his ribs as he realized..._

_ Craig wasn't wearing his mask._

_ Screeching in shock, Tweek slammed the door shut, covering his eyes as he screamed indiscriminately. "Oh my God, I'm so SORRY!" When he finally took a breath, he heard Craig on the other side._

_ "...the hell was that for?"_

_ Tweek screwed his eyes shut even tighter, screaming in horror,_

_ "YOU'RE NAKED!"_

* * *

The end. XDD Blame my sis, she had a vision while editing this chap, heheheh...but thank you all so much, give your love to Cynical B. Itch for staying with me and stabbing my inspiration with sharp sticks (and whips) to get the juices flowing (also, she's the one updating and inserting this little part right here ***hi***) GO READ HER STUFF, LIKE NOW! ***is commanding*******

My readers I love you, I love you, I love you, I LOVE you! Inspire me more, fill my heart with joy at your presence and know that nothing makes me happier than _you_!

Nightie out, yo!


	8. Scars On The Outside

**Part Seven:  
This Is Some Serious Crack Yo**

He couldn't believe it, it was all too much. Tweek screamed loudly.

"AUGHHHHHHHHH!"

He kept screaming for quite a while before finally running out of air, panting harshly, his chest heaving as a wincing Craig rubbed at his ears, looking at him quite irritably.

"_What_." The raven said.

Tweek was on Craig's lap before he knew it, shaking the boy in front of him by the shoulders roughly, screaming in his face. "WHY THE FUCK IS THERE NOTHING WRONG?/!"

There _was_ nothing wrong with Craig's face; it was all perfect angles and soft slightly-tanned skin, his lips thin but somehow free of the usual look and sense of contempt and bitterness. Hell, if Tweek could admit it, Craig looked downright hot!

Craig's eyes widened slightly and he put a hand to Tweek's chest, stopping him. "Oh. Sorry, forgot about the flesh mask." And with that he peeled off the flesh look-alike. Tweek screamed again.

"AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

This time Craig was ready with a reason for the four thick, perfectly formed scars on his lips and nose. "I was attacked by a bear. And won."

Tweek's lips crashed into the raven's as he gave him his instinctive reward for being so full for kickass awesome badassery. Craig accepted it quite graciously before giving back some of his own, and then he was clutching the blond to him like a life preserver in the middle of an endless ocean, throwing him back on his bed's covers to do the job right.

And they both had lots of hawt, sweaty gay smex and pumped out tons of Creek babies (insert Sex Pistols' explanation for Mpreg here) and lived happily ever after.

The End

* * *

**A/N: **XDDDDDD Oh mai, thanks to **_powerpuffs621_**, I loved your idea so much I _had_to write it in! LOLZ, anyway, okay, back onto the real story! Enjoy! ;D

* * *

**Part Seven:  
Scars On The Outside**

Craig's mom had just sat down on the living room couch, flipping on the television as she leaned back into the cushions, propping her feet up on the coffee table as she relaxed from her recent stress.

Now, she loved her son about as much as any parent loved their kid, but she'd still been pretty pissed that she'd had to drive all the way down to the school after being called up to be informed that 'your child has been part of an altercation on school property'. You'd think they could just say shit straight and tell her that Craig'd been in a fight again. But nooooo, they had to make shit sound all fancy and smart and end up sounding like a bunch of retards.

_Can't speak proper English like normal people_, she thought moodily as she popped open the tab on her soda.

And that damned bitch of a principal! Little skank ho prancing around like she owned the place just because she had a bit more power than most skank hos did. She felt a wave of fierce protectiveness as she thought about her son. A mother knows best, after all, and she knew that if Craig felt safer wearing the mask then by God, he'd wear it to her funeral, dammit! And all the trouble Craig got in...as if that stupid principal lady knew better than she did...saying her boy'd started those fights...the idiocy of it all!

Fucking dumbasses...

Sighing, she took a gulp of the carbonated drink, relishing the taste and peace of her household...

And a scream shattered the air.

Choking on her drink, she coughed some onto her chest and legs, trying to breathe as she shot up. What the hell? Tweek's scream—because she knew it was him—sounded terrified, horrible and full of fear. And while she'd heard such a scream once before when he'd been freaked out from that stupid videogame, something about it tugged at her and she almost slammed her drink down on the table, racing up the stairs.

As brusque as she was, she liked Tweek. He was a good, smart kid, even if he did look like he was doing drugs because of all the damned twitching, but he was the first friend Craig had made since the incident. And that really meant something to her. So, her mother bear instincts fully roused, she tore down the second story hallway, kicking open her son's door in a fit of powerful strength.

What met her eyes...confused her.

Tweek and Craig were on the floor locked in some kind of wrestling match…and it looked like Tweek was winning. He had his thin arm under Craig's right, hooked over her son's chest as he tried to pull him back, still screaming and shrieking something. Craig, on the other hand, was yelling as well, looking both confused and irritated as he flailed around on the floor; his free arm and legs were pushing on the floor, trying to lift himself up. The blond wasn't letting him, though, giving one mighty pull and effectively ruining Craig's efforts as he flopped back onto the ground.

She noticed right off the bat that her son wasn't wearing his mask.

Feeling as if she might pop a vein at any second, she roared, "What the _fuck_ is going ON IN HERE?"

They both froze and looked over to her as if just noticing her arrival, even though she'd almost kicked down the door no less than ten seconds ago.

The Tweek boy was the first to speak, although it took her a few seconds to actually understand the blathering near-sobs he cried in her direction. "—gotta get him to –_ngh-_ a _HOSPITAL_ c-c-call the police oh _Jesus, we g-gotta save his LIFE!_" He suddenly let go of Craig, letting him hit the floor with a thump and a '_fuck!_', grabbing him by both sides of the face as he screamed, "DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT, CRAIG_, DON'T GO INTO THE LIIIIIIGHT!_"

She looked at him with a mix of confusion, pity, and exasperation, raising a single eyebrow in a way that was remarkably similar to Craig. He'd had to learn it from someplace, after all. "What the fuck are you talking about."

Tweek's head snapped around to pierce her with a look of utter disbelief, and he turned Craig's head toward her. Her son, for his part, seemed to have given up completely on escaping the crazy boy and looked at his mother in patient weariness, heaving a silent sigh. Tweek was once again shrieking.

"For th-the love of _all things coffee_, can't you s-s-see his _face?_" He looked down at Craig again, shaking him desperately. "_Don't die on me, man! Breathe! BREATHE!_"

Craig's mother stared at him for a second, and then raised a hand to rub at her forehead, shaking her head slowly. "Oh my God…" she turned around, still trying to rub away the oncoming headache as she stalked off in the direction of the stairs. "Damn brats interrupting my relaxation time…"

Tweek was stunned; his left eyebrow twitched as he stared after her in both shock and horror. How…how could she just walk away? From her son, from _Craig_ of all people, the awesome badass ninja that was probably going to kill him for his past treachery and the way he was acting now, how could she just turn her back when the raven needed immediate medical attention to keep the very _life_ within his BODY!

He shook Craig's face again, screaming violently, "_What i-is this world –ngh– COMING T—_" before a hand to the face stopped both his words and shaking abruptly.

The raven gave him a narrow-eyed glare, his palm pressing over Tweek's nose and mouth. The blond blinked through the spaces between each finger, unsure of what to do or think. "No shaking. Shaking bad." He gave Tweek's face a nudge with his hand, making it shake back and forth. "Bad Tweek. _Bad_. Okay?"

The coffee-addict gave a tiny nod and Craig nudged his face again. "Good boy. Now let go of my face."

Tweek tried to muddle out a protest about Craig dying but the other shook his head, making Tweek's head shake as well. "Ah-ah-ah…no. I'm not dying. So chill out and shut up, 'kay?"

There was a pause before the blond nodded and drew his hands back from the raven's face, his fingers running inevitably over the ridges and lines of the damage on Craig's skin. Craig gave a 'hmph' and removed his hand as well, standing up and going over to sit on his bed again. Tweek decided to stay on the floor, crossing his legs in front of him as he stared at Craig. His fingertips tingled with the phantom sensation of the scar underneath them.

The scar.

That single first look had lasted an eternity to him, and Tweek couldn't have done anything but stare at it as the image tried to make its way into his brain to be processed. It was…it was…

In one word, it was horrifying. Tweek couldn't think of anything that would have left a scar on someone's face like that, and the fact that it was on Craig made his brain feel like it was about to be a victim of a ruptured vein and resulting hemorrhage. How could _he_, of all people in the world, have possibly gotten something like that?

The first thing he noticed...was how big it was. It stretched from the point of the raven's left cheek and traveled down diagonally, intersecting his lips as it ended on the right side of his jaw, near his chin. It wasn't thin either, some white line that you could easily look past and wave off on his appearance. It was thick, almost half an inch in width, and bumpy as tiny, twisted ridges of flesh ran through.

The second thing that drew his eye was the _color_. It was red. Not the kind of red like you'd been pinched or maybe slapped, but the kind of nasty red you get when you pull back a rubber band as far as it can go and snap it on the inner crease of your elbow. The kind of red barely-healing wounds are, the kind of red that makes you think, 'ow, that's gotta _hurt_'.

Tweek couldn't take his eyes off of it.

It wasn't _just_ the length, or _just_ the color of it; each separate thing was bad, but it was the overall effect it all had together that made you unable to look away, made you feel a shiver pass down your spine as your fought not to rub at your own cheek and lips. Where the scar passed over his lips, it pulled the flesh so that you could see the peek of white incisors underneath. It almost gave the appearance that he was smiling, which was both unsettling and very, very creepy.

Tweek wasn't sure if he would've preferred seeing the mask instead right now.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat, and Tweek was startled to find that Craig was staring at him with an irritable and slightly expectant look on his face.

"You done yet?"

The blond jumped, fingers twitching as they knotted in the hem of his shirt. "W-with what?"

Craig rolled his eyes, exhaling noisily. His leg twitched. Tweek's eyes widened as he stared at how the scar pulled and tugged at the motion of the muscles, caught up in the sight. "_Staring._"

"_Gah!_" Tweek squeaked, covering his eyes and bending forward so fast he smacked his head on the carpeted floor. "S-sorry, oh Jesus, wh-what if I i-i-infected it, _I'm so sorry_!"

A pause, another sigh and the creak of movement on the bed; Tweek peeked up to see the raven lying on his belly on top of the covers, scarred cheek resting on one hand as he looked down at Tweek in bemusement. Tweek had the weirdest sense that he was trying to hide it. His tone was just the teeniest bit exasperated. "Infected it with _what_?"

Tweek tried to keep his eyes firmly on the raven's own blue ones and not anywhere else as he whispered, "_The Evil Eye..._"

...

"You're weird." Craig finally chuckled, his lips curling up in the smallest grin. Tweek could have almost fainted in shock. There it was! There it finally was! A smile! A smile on Craig Tucker's face and he was looking at it _without the mask being on_! Sure, it wasn't the way he had imagined it would happen, or look like, and in all honesty it was both fascinating and freaky to see but it was there and Tweek felt like he had just achieved Nirvana.

Or, y'know, something close to it.

Tweek flushed anyway. "It c-could happen!"

"Oh really. How."

The coffee-lover opened his mouth to explain...and then shut it. Hmm, how _would_ his gaze infect Craig's scar with the Evil Eye? First off, it didn't _have_ an eye to infect (Jesus, that'd be _freaky!_) and you had to actually _have_ the Evil Eye to curse anybody with it and to even have the Evil Eye you had to be evil! And Tweek didn't think he was evil!

...or WAS HE?

Horrified, he looked up at Craig to ask him if he could possibly be evil and what he could do to fix the obviously gaping black hole in his evil little soul, when the _red_ caught his eye again and what instead came out was, "...d-does it hurt?"

The raven looked taken-aback for a second, blinking slowly as he remained silent. A moment passed before he shuffled to rest his weight on his forearms, gesturing vaguely to the scar on his face in askance and Tweek nodded dumbly. The other looked at the blond with an almost curious look on his face but shook his head. "Nah...can't feel anything on it, actually."

Tweek's eyes got even wider. "_Ngh_, r-really?"

"Yeah, the nerves are shot." Craig ran a finger down the bumpy ridge, then to the unblemished skin next to it. He seemed hesitant; Tweek twitched at the thought. "Everything else is fine, though. It's just...this part that's numb."

Tweek was quiet for a moment, studying the mar carefully as he wondered who...or _what_ could have possibly injured the amazing Craig Tucker in such a way. He shuddered at imagining how it must have looked like when he had actually gotten it. Carefully going up on hands and knees, he approached the raven, his curiosity itching to get a closer look. Craig wouldn't mind, right? He'd been the one to reveal it after all, of his own free will, so he shouldn't have a problem with Tweek getting a closer look...before he knew it he was right in front of the other, his nose barely an inch away from the ridged scar.

Biting his lip anxiously, he examined it, so riveted he didn't see the tremor that passed through Craig's body as he drew closer. The red that he thought was just one color was actually varied; there were hints of pink in it that you couldn't see until you were as close as Tweek was. It sort of looked like he'd been burned, but for some reason Tweek didn't think that was the cause for this. There was something...too dull about it to be a burn scar. Steadying himself on one hand he leaned forward the tiniest millimeter, reaching to touch a finger to it carefully, dragging it down slowly. Craig twitched again; Tweek didn't notice that either.

He'd felt the scar while he'd been spazzing out and trying to drag Craig out of the room to receive medical attention, but this time he was actually _focusing_ on it, on the way it felt underneath his fingers, the skin just the tiniest hint stiffer than the skin of his unmarked cheek.

Tongue poking from the corner of his lips as he concentrated, a small frown came to crease his brow. Another finger joined the first in its traversal of the ridged skin, and Tweek came to reluctant conclusion that it really was skin.

It _was _skin, and no matter how it twisted Craig's appearance or brought to mind a misplaced Joker-like scar worthy of Heath Ledger, it didn't seem to be dissolving/eating the flesh of the raven's face, nor was it reacting under his fingers and lunging at his eyes, or anything else worthy of his panic. It was a simple scar that was part of Craig's skin, and it wasn't oozing pus, or bleeding profusely, and it looked about as healed as it would ever be. It was _just_ a scar...and frankly, it was less mysterious—and thus less scary—than the mask.

The conclusion came _reluctantly_ only because there was a lingering part of Tweek deep inside that was loathe to give up the idea of it coming alive and snapping off his fingers.

What could he say? He was just a _bit_ paranoid about these things...

Tweek had finished examining the mar; his fear for now had been sated but his curiosity's not nearly enough; his fascination at its mere presence on someone like Craig Tucker and the way it felt held its place within him. He would have continued rubbing carefully at it, pinning it beneath his curious gaze, if it wasn't for Craig's wince and barely-breathed utterance.

"Ow."

"OH MY GOD, I'M SO _SORRY!_" Tweek didn't know he could do a backflip so quickly, although it wasn't a backflip so much as a desperate roll done so rapidly his butt hit the floor before he was quite aware that it had moved off of the floor in the _first_ place. His momentum landed him flat in his back, knees drawn up to his chest and hands clamped over his eyes, looking like some human-esque version of an overturned beetle trying to get up, thanks to all his shaking.

Tweek was a bit frantic. "I-I didn't mean to h-h-hurt you, oh _gah! God,_ are you BLEEDING?" He squealed, still shielding his eyes with his hands to avoid looking at the horrendous sight of the copious, gratuitous amount of BLOOD that he had _surely_ caused to _gush out of control!_

There was a bit of a pause before Craig made a noise that sounded vaguely apologetic and almost like a cough. "...I'm...I'm kidding, Tweek, I'm fine."

The blond was still(ish), his hands refusing to give up their places over his face just in case Craig was wrong. "Are...are y-you -_ngh-_ s-sure?"

"Yeah."

"...m-maybe you should double-check."

"...Tweek, I'm _fine_."

With another small whimper, Tweek hesitantly spread his fingers, lifting his head just enough to peek through his hands and over his legs, nervously meeting Craig's gaze. The raven stared back at him, arms crossed on the sheets as he lay on his stomach; indeed his face was perfectly fine and clear of any horrendous gouts of blood. He made that cough-noise again, moving a hand so he could rest his left cheek on it, and again Tweek got the sense he was trying to hide the scar in some discreet way.

"If you want, I can put the mask on again."

The words snapped Tweek out of his thoughts abruptly, and he jumped, sitting up quickly. "N-no, no! It's okay!"

The raven's brows rose, and Tweek flushed. "Ah...I-I don't...it's..._ngh_..."

"It still freak you out?"

The blond nodded slowly, fingertips digging into his palms as he looked away. It seemed somehow insulting to say that the mask was actually scary. It...made Tweek feel bad to admit it. There was a bit of a silence, and Tweek began to squirm under it's heavy presence before Craig sat up on the bed, letting out a tired sigh as he tucked his legs underneath himself. "It's fine Tweek, don't worry 'bout it." He rubbed at the corner of his jaw, fingertips trailing over the bit of scar that curved below his chin as he continued hesitantly. "...not used to this. It's on my own terms...to a friend...but still i—_oufhhh!_"

Craig didn't get much farther than that, because he was suddenly subject to a flying Tweek and a rapid tumble that landed him face-up on the bed with a blond clamped tight around his waist. "What..."

Tweek's heart had stopped around the first syllable of the word 'friend', as his lungs did more or less the same, unwilling to let himself hope that what he thought that word might be was actually it. Because there was no way that Craig thought they were still friends, right? There was no possible way. It was enough that he wasn't ignoring him, that he wasn't looking at him in disgust or anger and was actually talking to him right now...it was enough that he wasn't seeking to punish Tweek, and that he had seemingly forgiven him for betraying him while he slept...that he had _willingly _let him see the secret that he had harbored under his _mask_...it was enough for Tweek, _more_ than enough or had dared himself to hope for. To ask or beg for anything else would be unforgivably selfish and arrogant.

He would not let himself think that he would still have that honor of being able to call Craig Tucker 'friend'. It was too much.

And then Craig had gone and said it like it was yesterday's news.

'..._on my own terms...to a _friend...'

Tweek buried his face in the other's chest, fighting to keep his voice coherent. "_Ngh..._r-really? I'm really st-still..._ngh,_ your f-f-friend?" His voice invariably rose to a squeak by the end. Because it didn't matter that Craig had that scar, or that it was the tiniest bit creepy to look at, or that it made him the slightest bit nervous, or even that he had gone through days of mental torture, when it all _paled_ to the knowledge that Craig might possibly still consider him a friend.

His arms tightened a little on the other's waist as the other took a breath to answer.

"...should you not be...?" Craig asked slowly.

The blond would have fallen to his knees if he hadn't already been lying on top of the raven, fingers clutching tightly the fabric of Craig's hoodie. He sniffled once, twice, quivering madly. "Th-thank...y-y-yo-_uuwaahhhh_..." For the first time since he'd been kicked out of Craig's house almost a week and a half ago, Tweek began to cry, feeling as if he was finally ridding himself of all the weight that had burdened him on the inside.

Craig was left to bear a sobbing Tweek, staring up at the ceiling as he felt the shivering bundle shake on his chest and cling to him like a baby koala. His face clearly holding a '...shit, what am I supposed to do _now?_' look, he hesitantly wrapped an arm around the blond's back, holding him tight as his other hand carefully began to pet the wild blond mane tickling the flesh of his neck.

His cheeks were lightly flushed, but that could have simply been because the room was a bit hot.

Tweek felt the other's arm come around him, offering him comfort—just like an actual friend would—and he cried even harder, sobbing out some kind of grateful 'thank you's that were lost in his blubbering and just sounded like incoherent wails. He could almost feel the tangible stranglehold that lump in his throat had on him disappear slowly, as if with every hitching sob and breath it was made smaller and smaller, until it was gone completely.

It was...so, so _liberating_ to finally have it gone.

The raven, if he were any other person, might have protested against the unjust watery abuse his hoodie was taking, instead of just continuing to pet the sobbing bundle on him with a calmness that many people would envy. But then again, Craig Tucker wasn't most people and though we may not know what was running through his head in that very moment, it certainly wasn't anything bad enough to warrant a disposal of the blond on the floor or whatnot. He just lay there silently as his facial expression slowly calmed, the only movements of his body being his chest moving in slow deep breaths, the soothing motion of his hand though the coffee-lover's hair, and the ever-so-subtle tightening of his other arm around Tweek.

Tweek cried until he couldn't cry anymore, snuffling softly into Craig's damp front as hiccups made his body twitch, and the vague thought made its way into his head, that this might not have been the driest place, but it was certainly the warmest...and the most comfortable...that'd he'd felt in a long, long while...

He finally fell asleep with the tiniest sigh, going limp completely as his hands loosened their clutching hold on the blue hoodie. Craig peeked down at him in surprise, his hand stilling its petting motion as he took in Tweek's closed eyes and slight sleep-twitches; the blond shuddered and mumbled something unintelligible before sighing again, his lips parted as he breathed in and out. The raven spared him another moment, as if to make sure he was really asleep, before lifting himself up with one hand to sit up on the bed. Tweek squirmed a little bit as he was moved but quickly settled down, making little smacking sounds with his tongue and twitching hands that now lay on his stomach into grabbing positions; almost as if he were clutching a thermos he had never let go of.

Craig's scarred lips curled in what could have almost been a smile, or some kind of twitching muscle spasm of evil epilepsy, before he clutched at the sleeping blond with one arm, leaning over his bed to reach under the mattress with his free hand. His fingers prodded what he had been searching for and he drew it out slowly, nearing it to Tweek's face.

That scarred smile never left his own.

* * *

Tweek felt warm and comfortable, and he licked his lips somewhat greedily, imagining that he was wrapped in a great coffee gelatin shaped like a flan, still warm and toasty and right out of the giant flan coffeemaker of sweetness...he could almost even taste the coffee on his tongue, and hear the dull bounce-like noises of the coffee flan as it moved and shot bullets...

...bullets?

The blond gave a twitch and blearily opened his eyes, almost panicking when he couldn't before he realized his tears had dried them shut. Belatedly reaching up a hand to wipe at them, he froze as he remembered.

Tears...crying...Craig! Bolting up, he wiped at his eyes frantically, blinking to clear them faster as he stared about in stunned surprise. He was still on Craig's bed, and someone—most likely the raven himself—had draped a blanket over him. Said raven who was sitting by the edge of the bed by the wall, staring avidly at the television screen in front of him.

With the mask still on his face.

Tweek blinked stupidly, a crushing disappointment running through him. Had he imagined it all? ...dreamed it? Could all of it, the unmasking, the revelation of the truth, have been merely some sleeping fantasy he had come up with? But then...what was with the tears? And how had he gotten here? Could he have possibly dreamed ever trying to unmask Craig, the isolation, everything? ….what had gone on?

He peered around and grabbed his thermos from where it lay by the wall, sipping at the by-now cold liquid inside to try and quell the rising letdown in his chest as his mouth opened to speak. Craig beat him to it. "...finally woke up, huh."

Tweek had never before hated the slight muffled-ness to the raven's voice so much before.

"Y-yeah..." The blond didn't know where to look, avoiding Craig's masked glance as he peeked at the television, which was playing some sort of action movie; as he watched, some guy flipped a car over a makeshift ramp and blew up a helicopter. While it was still in the sky.

Wow.

"U-um..." he started hesitantly, worrying the thermos between his palms. "How...long have I b-been -_ngh-_ a-asleep?"

The raven was silent for a minute before he finally answered, not even deeming to look at Tweek and for some reason the blond's heart sank at the observation. "A couple of hours." He paused his movie, but still didn't look at the blond near him. "You been staying up late?"

The coffee lover cast his gaze around hesitantly, unsure of how to respond. How do you answer a question for something that might not even have existed? "I-I guess...uh, did -_erk-_ a-anything...happen before I feel asleep?" It was the closest he could get to directly asking whether or not Craig had unmasked himself and revealed his secret to Tweek. Or at least, the closest thing he could think to ask right now.

All he got in response was a shrug. "Not really."

Any bit of hope Tweek had felt that it might not have been a dream faded, flickered and died at those words, and he couldn't help the sad downturn to his lips as he fiddled with the lid of his thermos. "Oh."

Then Craig finally turned his gaze to him, and Tweek was almost astounded to see a quirk to his toothed mask, a twitch at the very corners like he wanted to laugh. The other cleared his throat quite conspicuously, another weird thing in Tweek's book, and looked away again to gesture at the television. "You wanna stay? I got a movie playing...and mom ordered pizza."

Tweek cocked his head curiously despite himself, and saw that same twitch come again to Craig's mask. He decided to ignore that for the moment though, concentrating on the words. "...stay? Do...d-do I have t-t-to -_ngh-_ leave?" Was Craig hinting at kicking him out?

Craig looked at him and blinked once, and Tweek was once again struck by that same helpless despair he felt at seeing the fanged mask, with that same damned grin, leering at him. Why oh why, did his mind have to torture him with such a dream of pain, truth, and relief? As if he weren't already stressed enough, now he had to question his own sanity and whether or not any it had been real! Which it surely hadn't...the thought only saddened Tweek some more and he took another sip from his thermos, unable to help the pout that trembled on his lips. He was distracted, however, by Craig jerking his head in the direction of his window and Tweek peeked over, startled by what he saw.

It was very, very dark outside.

"Gah! Oh God, _what time is it?_" He squealed, somehow finding himself standing on the carpet without any idea as to when he got off the bed, and completely distracted from his sorrows. Oh sweet potato-loving Jesus, the night outside was way WAY darker than the last time he had overstayed at Craig's house a while back, and he wasn't sure he could make it home without being attacked and killed! No, he wasn't ready to DIE!

Craig made that twitch motion again, checking his watch quite casually. "11:45."

Tweek gave him a look of the utmost horror and was unamused when the other slowly turned red, as if he was holding his breath for some godforsaken reason. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and a restless, almost painful shudder passed through him, leaving him crouched on the floor as a whimper passed from his lips. Jesus. Oh God. His parents were gonna kill him; he had never stayed out so late before, with or without their permission, sweet Jesus, what should he do he was in so much trouble they'd take away his coffee and thermos and and and—

"I called your parents two hours ago." Came the nonchalantly blank tone of Craig's voice, and Tweek raised somewhat teary eyes, who was leaning over the edge of the bed, propped up on his forearms as he gave him a hooded look.

"...w-what?"

"Didn't think you were gonna wake up, so," he shrugged lightly.

The blond looked around anxiously, as if worried that his mom and dad might jump out at him from the depths of Craig's closet and snatch his thermos in punishment before running laughing maniacally into the dark.

...what? It could happen.

"S-so...I'm -_ngh-_ n-not in trouble?" He asked slowly.

Craig shook his head, sitting up. "Chill, okay?" There was a knock at the door and Tweek shrieked and jumped onto the bed, while the raven rolled his eyes and sat silently. The door opened and in walked the raven's mother, holding up three boxes of pizza as she grumbled and cursed under her breath.

"Next time watch where you order from you little brat," she spat at Craig, grinding her teeth together. "I swear, that little delivery boy was one smart-ass comment away from a foot in the ass, 'cause God kno—" She caught sight of Tweek cowered on the bed and froze, the words abruptly stopping in their tracks. And then she started hysterically laughing.

Tweek cocked his head in puzzlement and she laughed even harder, nearly dropping the boxes of pizza in her hands. She couldn't even breathe, her faced turned red, and Tweek glanced over worriedly at the raven to see if something terrible was happening to his mother. Because it was starting to look like they might need some serious medical attention directed here. Tweek wondered in the back of his head how long it would take him to reach a phone to call 911, and how long it would take them to respond to their call and get here.

Craig however, was looking at him with an expression of barely contained amusement, the fact cemented by the fact that his mask was lifted at the corners in an undeniable grin. He looked as if he were close to bursting out in laughter too. Tweek was feeling very left out by this point and he pouted, trying to glare at the both of them. He had the very suspicious feeling they were both laughing at him for some crazy reason. "W-what?" He demanded.

The woman by the doorway didn't answer, too busy trying to breathe, and she put the pizzas down on the bed next to Craig, walking out of the room as she wiped tears from his face. Tweek stood dumbfounded. What was going on today? First he had woken up from the most strangest and realistic dream ever, was seemingly safe from punishment by parents and now Craig's mom was laughing at him! Hysterically! Even Craig seemed amused by whatever she had been laughing at...him, he thought.

Tweek crossed his arms, a feeling rising in him reminiscent of how he had felt in the principal's office when he had defended Craig. No, he reminded himself inside, that wasn't real, it was a dream. You're just mad.

_Damn straight you're mad!_ His mind scoffed. _Whispering and staring and muttering is one thing but he's _laughing_ at you!_

I'm sure he doesn't mean it, Tweek tried to calm himself. He's just...thinking of a funny joke or something. Another dead baby joke.

_Uh huh. Why did his mom laugh then?_

...well, she's just weird.

_True dat, brah_.

Tweek looked to Craig, trying to put an expression on his face that spoke business. A ninja face. "W-what's so -_ngh-_ f-f-funny?"

Craig shrugged, his face returning to its usual blandness. "Dunno. My mom is weird." He gestured lazily to the pizza as he returned his gaze to the movie. "Pizza's there if you want it."

The blond gave the raven a suspicious look but crept over to the pizza, peeking inside the first box hesitantly in case one of those weird plastic snakes was rigged to jump out at him. Those pizza delivery guys were crazy pranksters looking for cheap thrills...Tweek shuddered internally, thinking back on his experiences with the psychos. But nothing popped out, save for the warm curls of steam wafting out, all smelling of hot cheese.

Mmm, cheese...

Tweek flipped it open the rest of the way eagerly, putting his thermos down on the floor to grab a slice, perching on the edge of the bed to dig in. Craig didn't make a move to join him, but that was normal. In all the time Tweek had seen him, Craig never ate or drank when there were other people around...his secret was apparently great enough that he would make that sacrifice if it meant he could keep his mask on. The coffee lover was by now used to this, so he merely concentrated on the wonders of such a treat; he didn't normally put his trust in those damn delivery guys, so he didn't have food like this often. He was mainly restricted to the small snacks he had through out the day.

But this...this was heaven.

The grease of the heavy slice stained his fingertips and chin as he finished, and he looked around for something to wipe it off with. "D-do you have any..."

"Mom leaves the napkins under the first box, remember?" Craig interjected, putting the movie on pause. Tweek nodded and pushed the box with the back of his hand, unwilling to put the oily substance on it. He grabbed one of the napkins, wiping his hands and mouth clean.

When he pulled the napkin back, however, there were smears of black and pink on it.

...the hell?

"Arghhh, Jesus Christ! _The pizza was p-poisoned!_" Tweek shrieked, flinging the napkin away. "_Th-they put lead p-paint in it!_" He flailed away, dropping off the bed as one of his kicking legs hooked below the first pizza box and sent it flying into the air.

Thankfully it closed as it landed, so the pizza was saved.

Not that it _should_ have been saved, damn poisoned treats...

Tweek was a bit too far gone to really take this in, wiping his hands frantically across his lolling tongue, as if he could vanquish the poison that was already swimming in his belly, digging through his intestines into his precious bloodstream! No, not his blood! HE NEEDED THAT DAMMIT!

The blond was seriously considering shoving his fingers down his throat and puking, right then and there on Craig's nice carpeted floor, if it would save his life, when he heard a slightly familiar and not too comforting sound.

Snickering.

Stunned, the coffee lover turned to face Craig, who was the source of the noise, laying back on his bed against the wall and laughing quietly to himself, the noises muffled by the black cloth stretched over his face. He was staring at Tweek with the expression of one who was just barely holding back hysteria, and as Tweek watched incredulously, eye twitching, a loud snort broke though and the raven hunched forward, turning redder by the minute.

And then it hit him. _Craig had used his ninja skills to magically poison his pizza!_ And he was laughing because he'd eaten it! …...HE'D BEEN POISONED, DAMMIT!

Tweek ran screaming from Craig's room, intent on rushing to the bathroom and it's porcelain throne to empty his poison-filled stomach before rushing out of his murderer's house, the dark and all those perverts be damned!

Just as he practically bounced off the door, having somewhat slammed into it, and rushed his way in, he glanced toward the mirror, and saw pink and black-rimmed eyes staring back at him. He shrieked even louder, thudding into the wall as he tried to jerk away, and only succeeded in bumping his head quite painfully. Whimpering as he crouched down, rubbing the back of his head, Tweek peeked up over the sink and to the mirror again, eyes widening at what he saw. It wasn't some strange colored monster living in Craig's bathroom that he had seen, it was _him!_ The blond peeked up a little farther, inching closer to the mirror to take a closer look. There were pink and black splotches everywhere on his face, lining his cheeks, blotched in giant spots over his eyes and nose, even some around his lips; Tweek gasped as he took it all in, horrified.

The poison was too fast-acting to stop, it had already caused facial discoloration! _Oh GOD, he was going to diieeeeeee!_

The coffee-addict let out an anguished howl that would have shook the windows had he not been half sobbing and whimpering already. Whyyyy? He had so much to live for! So many sights he'd never see, so much coffee he'd never get to taste! If it had all been a dream, why had Craig done this to him, what could he have possibly done to prevent this? He must have been planning this from day one, letting Tweek get closer to him and luring away his guard just to KILL HIM!

"_Qu'est-ce que j'ai jamais fait pour mériter ça?_" Tweek wailed, falling to his knees.

There was more mirthful laughing from the doorway, and the blond looked up to the still red-faced Craig leaning on the doorway. "Tweek," the raven choked out between laughs. "Tweek you...y-you speak French?"

"_Je ne sais pas comment parler français!_" The other squawked in indignation. Craig just stared at him and burst out laughing again. Tweek howled again, pulling at his hair. Now the poison was affecting his brain! Oh God would the torture never _stop_?

The homicidal, poison-obsessed raven was crouched on the floor now, appearing only seconds away from just dropping and rolling on it in hysterical laughter. "I haven't...I haven't poisoned you, Tweek." He managed to gasp out.

The blond rounded on the raven, dragging him up by the shirt collar viciously. "_LIIIIES!_" He shrieked, shaking the other back and forth as he knelt on the floor. Craig's mask was grinning at him as the other lost himself in laughter, barely stuttering out a, "Washable marker...!"

The coffee-addict stopped, taking in those words as he loosened his grip on Craig's shirt. "W-what?"

The raven got himself under control and gestured vaguely to the mirror. Tweek let go of his prey and stood up hesitantly, peering at the mirror with a bit more clear-headed focus.

….. "My -_ngh-_ G-God." Only now, that Craig had somewhat pointed it out, did Tweek realize the lines were whiskers on his cheeks, and the black and pink on his eyes were evenly distributed to each eyelid: black on the bottom, pink on the top, the edges feathering out like eyelashes. The black on his nose was like an inverted triangle, rounded at the corner like a kitten's nose, and the black on his lips perfectly covered them, instead of being a random sickness-induced blotch as he had so previously assumed.

Tweek's decorated eye twitched. "You've made me i-into a -_augh-_ t-tranny cat."

This only resulted into Craig falling into fits of hysterical laughter again at his sure workmanship, and Tweek turned to look at him with what he was certain was the most deadpan look he had ever managed. Okay. So obviously, this was not poison, just Craig playing a trick on him. Like any one of his usual attempts. Hmm. He was slightly regretting his freakout now. He wondered if he could have some more pizza now.

Craig, meanwhile, was still on the floor holding his stomach and he pulled down his mask, gulping in air. "Fuck...getting hard to breathe." He chuckled, casting another look at Tweek. The blond gasped, collapsing on his hands and knees instantly to approach Craig. He...he could barely believe it.

"I...it w-wasn't a dream?"

Those scarred lips turned in a skeptical smile.

"'Course not."

* * *

**WARNING! WARNING! PLEASE READ THIS! :** There may be amongst you a few who have seen on my profile that I am giving up on Seared Lips. THIS IS NOT TRUE. DO NOT BELIEVE THIS. I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS. I will not reveal the whole sordid affair on here (dirty laundry is mine, kiddies!) but let it just be known that I am not abandoning this at all whatsoever.

I have learned two things however: one, not that many people read my profile, and two, people apparently forgot I was struggling over NaNoWriMo all of November. And failed. But that's another story XD

I really wanted to wait until I had the whole thing ready, but people demanded anyway, and so did my poll. (To you twelve, thanks so much for answering!) The other half will come soon, now that I'm working on this full time again. Love you guys, thanks for reading!

P. S. : If Tweek and Craig seem really off in that last part, it's because...well, after a while of not writing them, it just kinda becomes hard to. I'll get back into the groove of things, swear!

P. P. S. : FANART ALERT! Thanks to xSucksToYourAss-marx for the AWESOME fanart she made me, I totally love it! You can check it out on my Tumblr, (nightingalelost . tumblr. com) which I made like...yesterday. On the 20th. This is momentous, yo XD It's the very first picture there, you can't miss it! (This is subject to change...just sayin'.)


	9. Scars On The Inside

**Part Seven (and a half):****  
****Scars On The Inside**

Tweek couldn't believe his eyes, staring almost awestruck at the scar he had seen before, simultaneously entranced by the shape and color as well as the fact that Craig was telling him it was real, and totally _not_ a dream. His fingers reached out, intent on touching Craig to really prove to himself that this was freakin', miraculous-miracle-like reality right all up in his awesome ninja grill.

Unless...

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, glaring at the raven until the other spoke up, somewhat exasperatedly.

"It's _not_ a dream, I swear."

Tweek's eyes widened almost comically, sucking in an unintentionally dramatic breath. "_Psychic_...I knew it."

Craig did some kind of a gentle facepalm, simply laying his face on a hand instead of slapping it hard enough to burst his head like a watermelon. Which was good in Tweek's opinion, because if Craig managed to split his head open he wasn't sure he could keep his shit handled, and was probably gonna flip some tables and jump out of a window.

….and maybe take some of that pizza with him too, 'cuz that was some really good stuff. Actually, he kinda wanted some now, as a matter of fact...

Craig interrupted his thoughts, leaning forward a little bit toward Tweek. "If you want, I can prove it."

The blond looked at him even more suspiciously, if that was possible, pursing his lips a little at the suggestion. "...really?"

"Yeah, sure."

"...how?" Came the hesitant question. Craig shuffled a bit closer, raising a hand so that the palm of it was innocently facing Tweek, almost like a peace gesture, showing the other he was unarmed. "Look here," the raven said. "You see my hand?"

Tweek nodded slowly, peering at it closely.

"Good." Without any warning it flashed forward, smacking into Tweek's forehead.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" This of course was Tweek tumbling to his backside on the ground and spazzing out all over the goddamn place like the twitchy blond spazzy kid he was. "OH GOD MY SKULL, MY BONY BRAIN GOO PROTECTOR!" Tweek shrieked, flailing his thin little legs everywhere.

Craig looked upon him with his usual blank apathy, albeit with the hint of a smile on his face, this time clear and visible, thanks to the mask no longer being on his face. "You don't feel things in dreams, Tweek. Chill."

The coffee lover took in a moment to take in this fact, slowing down his hurried rolls on the bathroom floor as he began to think.

...hmm, that was true, wasn't it?

_I suppose..._

So, once again another unnecessary spaz-out?

_Yup. You're on a roll today._

Tweek would have bowed to his head if he could have. Why thank you.

_It was nothing._

No really, you are too kind.

"Tweek."

_Well, aw shucks, you're making me blush._

Blush not, oh mind of mine, for su—

"Tweek!"

"Argh!" Tweek was once again startled by Craig's voice, for like the third time in less than as many minutes, jerking back and smacking his head on the nearby wall. God, what was it with his head and walls? He gave out a little moan of pain, which Craig took as a sign to continue on whatever reason he had interrupted Tweek's train of thought...or rather, conversation with his own head. Hmm, he really had to stop doing that, didn't he?

"If you're done...?" The raven raised a single eyebrow at Tweek in his own classic little gesture, and the other nodded slowly, a tiny pout hovering on his painted lips. Craig gave a snort of contained laughter, then stood up. "Anyway, I don't think you're gonna go to sleep again, so come on."

Tweek took the hand that was suddenly pushed in his direction, pulling himself up and rubbing a bit at his face, resolving to wash it off soon, definitely before school tomorrow. As of right now, his attention was focused on the guy in front of him. Craig pulled him out into the hallway, back into his room before letting go of his hand to pick up the pizzas. The blond, who had been in the process of going to sit on the bed, was confused as Craig made his way tot the door again, peering back at Tweek curiously, his gaze clearly asking, _What're you doing?_

Okay, apparently they were going somewhere that was _not_ Craig's room. The blond got up with more than a little bit of suspicion, picking up his thermos from where it was still on the floor and following the raven silently through the surprisingly dark house. Oh yes, it was pretty late at night, right? How had he forgotten that…? Either way, Tweek scampered a bit more closer to Craig's side, glancing around nervously at the creeping shadows. He had never been too scared of wandering around his own house at night; though the years he had explored its every nook and cranny, had learned every one of its sounds and movements. It was _his_ house at night, his own place and nobody knew it as well as he did. Even with the constant fear of thieves that might break in or gnome assassins, he was never really too afraid of his own house.

The same, however, could not be said of Craig's. He wondered if it would be too much to just reach forward and latch his hand into the back of the other's shirt for protection. After all, the raven had said that they were friends, right? So…so he couldn't get _too_ mad…he hoped. Then Tweek decided it didn't really matter, because this house was really really dark and he thought he had just heard something thump downstairs. And, like any sane person, he briefly entertained the thought that it might have been a murderer.

Yes, definitely time to latch onto Craig.

Tweek stifled a squeak, his fingers flying to dig into the back hem of the raven's shirt. Surely this pizza-carrying, scarred ninja wouldn't turn around and rip off his head. Well, at least he hoped it wouldn't be true. Thankfully, the other did nothing more than just give a little glance behind him and continue on his way.

If Tweek had been in a less scared mood, he might have done a fistpump in triumph. He settled for just a celebratory drink him his thermos in his free hand. Hell yes, he was _so_ in there.

"The hell aren't you asleep yet." Craig suddenly snapped and Tweek jumped almost a foot in the air (quite literally; have you ever seen a spazzy freak jump? They can get pretty damn high...), stuttering incoherently. What! Sleep? Wha—how could he get to sleep so quick, and standing up! While walking! Sweet Jesus, if that was the price for latching onto the other's shirt, he wasn't sure he could deliver! Oh _God_ don't let Craig rip his head off just because he couldn't fall asleep on command instantly in the middle of dark creepy hallways while standing up and walking, arghh!

"Why aren't you?" Another voice came back, and Tweek almost fainted. By everything that was hot and coffee-holy, had he actually snapped back at Craig? Had that been him being unintentionally rebellious? Oh shit, yup, he was so gonna die, he was so freakin' dead, he could count his paranoid, coffee-loving life over...

The raven's free hand lifted up to flip him off before killing him...Tweek couldn't help but keep his eyes latched on it, there was just something about your impending death that you just couldn't look away from—wait, wait, where was Craig pointing that middle finger? The blond suppressed the nervous flinch that had been crawling up his spine, desperate to get out, as his eyes followed the direction in which Craig was looking, which coincidentally, was not his.

There was a flame-headed witch, standing by a darkened doorway, flipping the both of them off.

This time Tweek let out a shriek, jumping back hurriedly enough that he hit the opposing wall. He could've pulled Craig with him, seeing as one hand was still clinging to the back of his shirt, but the raven seemed immovable, standing firm as though he hadn't even noticed Tweek's pull on him.

Jeez, what was he, a rock?

_Probably._

The witch turned her full attention on him and Tweek squeaked, clutching his cold coffee to his chest as if to protect it; he slowly realized that no, it was not a witch, but instead a little girl, no older than fourteen or fifteen. Well, she might have been a witch, he didn't know, but for right now she looked pretty human. She raised an eyebrow in what Tweek was quickly coming to recognize as a family trait, putting down her hands to cross them in front of her chest. There seemed to be some kind of unspoken communication between her and Craig, because the raven jerked a nod in the blond's direction. "He's a friend."

Her eyes narrowed and he gave a loose-shouldered shrug in response to whatever the fuck they were talking about inside of their heads. Jesus, was this entire family psychic? Was that how they communicated outside of the sights of mere mortals like Tweek himself?

There was a pause in which both Craig and the girl—Tweek assumed she was his sister or something, hadn't he caught a glimpse of her before while running out of Craig's house that one time?—stared each other down, then she shoved a hand out toward him, silently demanding something. The raven gave an exasperated huff, leaning the pizza boxes in her direction; she opened the top one, plucked two slices from inside and was slamming the door in their face before Tweek had really noticed what the hell was going on.

"Brat." Craig grumbled under his breath, closing the box and flipping off the shut door once before setting again on his way, tugging Tweek along with him. The blond wasn't exactly sure what to think about the whole interaction that had just taken place, but judging by what Craig and mother's relationship was like, decided to assume the two siblings were...close? Or...something. Whatever passed as sibling-like in this ninja-filled household.

_This is a really weird family._

Yeah, we're not too far off either, Tweek grumbled wryly to himself, staring down at the floor as his fingers toyed with Craig's shirt. Where exactly were they going anyway? Craig seemed to have some sort of destination in mind, but maybe it'd be nice if actually _told_ Tweek where they were going...although now that he thought about it, he didn't remember actually _asking_ Craig where they were going, so it wasn't like it was all entirely the raven's fault that he had no idea where they were off to, and was possibly entertaining thought about dark confining closets and deals made with serial killers for the sweet bloody flesh of a coffee-loving blond. Oh jeez, no, don't think about that, Tweek, don't think about that, whatever you do, don't think of Craig selling you out to leather-masked serial killers wearing twenty sharp blades on their belts, ready to skin you alive inch by i—

The raven suddenly dropped down four inches. Tweek, still having a hand clenched on the back of Craig's shirt, could only shriek and do a faceplant between the other's shoulder blades. Oww.

"Watch out for the stairs, Tweek."

_A little late, Craig._ His mind muttered, peeling itself from the side of his brain where it had been suddenly thrown to. Tweek made a little noise in the back of his throat that was meant to indicate pretty much the same thing, disentangling his fingers to push his face away and regain a more normal curve to his spine. He was, at the very least, grateful that Craig was standing still on the stairs and not still walking forward, dragging him along down the way.

He rubbed his nose a bit, which was kind of throbbing now. Ow. Jeez these stairs were dark. How the hell could Craig even navigate them safely at midnight? Or even _see_ them? Tweek once again grabbed onto Craig, if only to keep from falling to his doom down pitch black stairs and snapping every bone in his neck once he reached the bottom. Jesus how had he survived that last drop? Tweek shuddered, remembering that horrid day.

The raven took another step forward, but slower this time and Tweek was ready for it; he descended down to the step the other had just vacated. After a dark, scary period of descending down step by step into what certainly had to be the mouth of the awaiting beast, Craig's steps leveled out and Tweek could breathe a little easier, able to see the glow of street lights through the front windows of the living room. Okay, they were on the ground floor. They were safe.

Should he let go now? They had reached where they were going, right? Like, where else could they go in the middle of the night, carrying boxes of pizza? Tweek decided that now would be a good time to potentially bring this up, and that maybe he wouldn't let go of Craig until they had arrived at wherever the hell they were actually going. No use in having Craig disappear on him randomly and making him spaz out yet again in the middle of a dark, extremely terrifying house full of Tucker family members.

"Craaaaig," Tweek whined. "_Ngh_, wh-where're we going?"

The raven took a turn into a tiny hallway, pulling Tweek along with him as he reached a door. "Here." He pushed it open with his free hand.

Holy. Shit.

Tweek took one look at the endless staircase spiraling down into blank nothingness and let go of Craig's shirt, backing up a step. "Nope. N-nuh uh. No -_ngh-_ way."

"It's just the basement."

"Nope." Tweek turned around, not so much determined as too shocked by the gaping black abyss behind him to properly spaz out in terror. Too much, his brain shrieked. Too much, and I'm just gonna shut down for a sec, get your ass someplace else before I come back. "N-nope." He was gonna go back, find those stairs, crawl up them if he had to, and go back to Craig's room where there was a light switch, lights and a closet he could crawl into. Yup. That's exactly what he was gonna do.

"It's a _basement_."

Tweek paid the raven behind him no attention, zipping his lips shut as he groped his way back along the half-darkness, peering around at the dim light from outside of the windows. Okay, the living room was that way, and the stairs were really close, so he wasn't too far from—

A clawed hand yanked him back by his shirt and Tweek shrieked, almost toppling over and somehow miraculously keeping a grip on his thermos as his feet struggled to keep him upright.

"Craig! Oh God, Craig, Craig help, oh sweet _Jesus_ help it's got me _gah! Oh God don'tletiteatmybraaaains!_"

"Shut up, you spaz." The raven's voice growled behind him, and the clawed hand turned out to be a regular hand as it let go of his shirt to latch around his waist, lifting him up to drag him back more easier to the dark hole of a staircase. Tweek was not comforted any more by this fact, continuing to fight anyway.

"No, C-Craig, stoppit, -_ngh-_ it's gonna eat me, d-don't, no I don't w-wanna -_augh- _g-g-gooooo..." he wailed, flailing for his life.

Craig hiked him up a bit higher, trying to keep him still. "Goddammit, you're gonna tip over the pizzas, it's not going to e—"

An angry, deep, unmistakeably male voice boomed from the top of the stairs. "CRAIG KEEP YOUR BITCH QUIET OR I'LL TOSS HIS ASS OUT."

Tweek froze instantly, eyes wide and lungs frozen for a split second before he wiggled straight out of Craig's grasp and shot down those basement stairs. Craig gave off a few choice mutters about his father and followed the blond down, closing the door behind him.

The coffee-lover, on the other hand, had reached the bottom of the stairs in record-setting time and was discovering that the basement wasn't as terrible and horrible as it had first appeared. As soon as he had reached the bottom—somehow avoiding that grisly fate of tripping over his own feet or missing a step and going tumbling down to crack his head open and bleed his brain guts all over the floor—he had noticed that one, it wasn't as dark down here as he had expected, and two, there weren't any monsters jumping out at him from shadows or chains hanging from the walls as he had somewhat expected. There was a long couch in the middle, facing two large flat-screen televisions, a coffee table and a whole slew of different game consoles, the many cables and wires peeking out from under the table were the televisions were. There was a small closet by one wall, and...what looked to be a giant body bag leaning against the far corner. Tweek's mind, strained as it was by recent events and fears, decided to ignore that for the time being. He focused instead on the little lamp in the shape of a red car sitting on the coffee table next to the couch, inching closer to it to avoid standing in the dark where anything could grab him and suck him down into a world of nothing.

He heard footsteps come down the stairs and looked up to see Craig make his appearance, still balancing the boxes of pizza in his hands. The raven glanced over at him before coming over and laying the boxes down on the small table in front of the couch, flipping one open and snagging a slice for himself. Tweek couldn't help but stare a bit; the seemingly mundane action was actually very fascinating, it being the first time Tweek had seen the other consume something without his mask on. Or...just really eat anything. Besides coffee, but that was drinking, so it didn't really count.

Craig looked...normal. Really normal. If you looked at him from the right side, all you could see was the edge of the scar peeking over his bottom lip and chin. It looked kind of bad, but you could put it down to a bad wipeout on a bike or skateboard, faceplanting the wrong way as a child and gaining a new scar for it. He ate sort of sloppily, stuffing as much as his mouth could hold, which Tweek considered something of a contrast to his perpetual pokerface...and the slight belief that Craig lived merely off of games, dirty jokes and the badassness he himself exuded.

His thoughts were derailed when he saw the other walk over to the closet by the far end of the wall, pulling it open. The small shelves were stuffed to bursting with blankets and folded sheets, and the raven pulled a couple down, reaching far back to pull out what seemed like a sleeping bag. He dragged it all over to the space in front of the couch, pushing the coffee table to one side as Tweek watched, and the blond bit his lip hesitantly. Was Craig going to sleep? There was no way he himself would see the darkness of sleep anytime soon, thanks to his insomnia and recent 'nap', so...what was he going to do? It would be just a little creepy if he were to stay awake while Craig was asleep; what if the other woke up and thought Tweek was just staying awake to stare at him like some sort of perverse creeper? Or...or a pedophile! Which, admittedly, wouldn't make much sense; he was sure they were the same age or around it anyway and it wasn't exactly like they were little kids or whatever but still! It would be terrible!

Actually, now that he thought about it, he'd actually only be an ephebophile, which still didn't make any sense because it was really only meant toward adults wasn't it? Or so he had thought and he wasn't an adult yet unless for some reason society had changed its scale of measuring adultness just SPITE HIM which he wouldn't put past them, those goddamn crazy—

Wait, what, this would only make sense if he was attracted to Craig and he wasn't attracted to him or was he OH GOD WHAT IF HE WAS? AND HE JUST DIDNT KNOW IT?

_But Craig is psychic! He KNOOOOWS!_

Oh God, he is! He would! Tweek shrieked internally, tugging at his hair. No, wait, he wasn't, he was sure of it, wouldn't he know already; Goddamn, Craig was probably thinking he really WAS a crazy pervert attracted to badass ravens! And then he'd leave him down in this basement and let him be a sacrifice to unholy demonic axe murderers and goats!

_Not the goats!_

"_Tweek..._" called a voice from the darkness. The blond himself shrieked and jumped. How did the darkness know his name? Oh, fuck, they'd probably been watching him this whole time while he'd been too distracted by newly-recovered friend; watching him every time he entered the house, staring down at him from the air vents and through windows!

There was not enough time for Tweek to make his panic known (not even a half-strangled "_GAAAH!_") before he was booking it up the stairs. He'd tried, he really did, but he would not stand for being eaten by monsters just because his friend had apparently tamed the beasts with ungodly ninja powers!

Oh my God, what if Craig was, like, some sort of robot bait they'd made up to lure people into their den!

_ HOLY TAPDANCING JESUS!_

Tweek was _this close_ to the door when a strong tentacle wrapped around his waist.

_ Oh God this was just like one of his our Japanese animes! WE ALL KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING!_

He sucked in a mighty breath, preparing his lungs for a scream, but before he could execute the action another limb clamped around his mouth.

Not that this stopped his screams of terror, but they certainly muffled them to a satisfactory amount.

Alas, eventually air fled our young, spazzing thermos-less hero(having dropped it somewhere on the basement floor to fend for itself, the poor thing), and no longer could he scream. It was around this time that the tentacles relocated, moving up to firmly grasp his face. _It __was totally trying to steal his face._

_I KNEW IT._

Craig's face came into view, and finally Tweek was shocked into silence.

The other's eyes were squinted and staring straight into Tweek's _soul. ….._his scar was decidedly less disturbing than the monsters Tweek was dreaming up in his mind, he thought bemusedly.

"Dude. You have problems." Came the final verdict. Ha, as if he didn't know that himself. "It's just me. Chill."

…...so it would seem. Hmm.

"I was asking you what you wanted to watch," Craig said, waving one hand at the shelves of movies as he dragged the blond back with the other. "But you've lost your privileges.…..not really," The raven added exasperatedly, seeing Tweek's shocked look.

"Stay," Craig commanded, standing up and waltzing over to the shelf.

Tweek stayed. Too much has happened today. Toooooo much. It was really hard work being this paranoid; it had sapped all the strength of his muscles. If only he was paid to be this much of a spaz...he'd be the richest guy on the planet! But alas, he wasn't, and there was nothing left to do but sit there upon the pile of blankets, pillows, and sleeping bags (which honestly was quite comfortable) and await his doom.

Eventually Craig came back. He knelt down in front of the DVD player and put in a movie before sitting next to Tweek. Who was still in shock.

Craig tossed a look over to him before he sighed and leaned back against the couch where the covers were conveniently in front of. Tweek was still twitching every few seconds, just a little too roughly to be considered normal for him, legs jerking as though they were still planning on fleeing soon but too weak to do soon.

Oh, the woe of never having enough strength to run away after a spaz attack. Luckily he'd never been caught yet by those old-man perverts. Thank God.

But he was indeed shaken from his near comatose state was the title screen that came up after his friend clicked a few buttons.

"...I knew you were a ninja." He muttered under his breath, staring at the fat awesome panda doing his kung-fu moves across the large screen.

"Hey." Craig stopped him right there, turning in his direction and shoving a warning hand in front of his face. "Hey...hey..._hey_. Not even because of ninjas. Jack Black is cool."

Tweek paused, then cracked a trembling grin, and the raven nodded once in satisfaction as he leaned over to the side, somehow whipping out the blond's fallen thermos like a true master of the Hidden Way. Eyes both amazed and wondrous, Tweek reached out to take it, holding it close and scooting even closer as Craig clicked play.

* * *

Hours later and Tweek was feeling the effects of a movie marathon, his head having been filled with flashing images of ninja pandas finding their past and inner peace, shadow-boxing metal robots boxing against a god, and this really cool one with AIs and a fighting rabbit named Kazma who was also a king and really complicated card playing games in a casino. Craig...had some pretty sweet movies. Not that Tweek would really know, he himself almost never went out to the theater anymore, and he didn't trust the people at those stupid movie rental places to give him what he really wanted. Stupid, porn-pushing little bastards...

But his friend had good taste...at least in Tweek's opinion. All the movies had good endings and none of them were depressing. Perfect for him. He already had enough on his plate as it was without scary movies freaking the hell out of him and giving him even more nightmares to freak out over.

He slurped on new, hot coffee—Craig had paused the fighting rabbit movie to accompany him up to the kitchen to make some coffee secretly, which had introduced some interesting things as well as the relatively new adventure of making coffee in almost pitch blackness of a strange house and bumping into the raven at very strange angles...but that was a story for another time—as he kept his eyes trained on the talking blue parrot trying to fly off a hang glider and completely failing on the screen.

A movement caught his attention and he peeked over at Craig, who had at some point relegated himself to the couch instead of the covers and sheets, sprawled over it and letting Tweek take charge of the thick mat of covers below. The raven was still watching the movie, but his eyes had the dulled tint of tiredness, and he leaned on one arm, mouth hanging a little open as he stared away. Clearly, the guy was tired. Which, even in itself was still spectacularly fascinating, having only seen him asleep only once. After a moment of thought, the coffee-lover lifted up his thermos to the other's face, and Craig started with a barely repressed snort, taking it wordlessly and popping open the top to take a couple of gulps instead of a casual sip.

Tweek watched him rather intently, wondering if it was possible to drink something more ninja-like than normal people. He was feeling that same comfortableness around the other again, like back when they had been at ease with each other and things had been going fine; he was feeling...safe again. Safe in the fact of their friendship and that once again, things could be good. He hadn't totally screwed shit up permanently or anything.

His eyes wandered back to the scar, peeking as Craig gave him back his thermos—after putting the cap on it again to prevent spills—feeling the eeriest mixture of squeamishness and captivation as that red skin tugged and pulled with the lick the raven gave to his lips, ridding himself of lingering coffee.

"_Ngh_, how d-did you get that?"

The question, though an hour ago would have driven him almost absolutely mad with the certainty he was going to be kicked out of the ninja's house, only sent a stinging flurry of anxiety through him that quickly vanished, to be replaced with a throbbing mix of eagerness and apprehensiveness. Craig, to his credit, didn't even glare at him angrily or anything; he looked over with the laziest eye swipe, although the look was no longer dull or sleepy, but instead almost wary. He looked like he had been expecting this question.

Well it made sense, didn't it? Or, to Tweek it did...after all, how long could you look at something so terrible without wondering at least where it came from, much less asking about it?

Craig stared at him for a bit, then rolled onto his side, probably to look at the other better. "Why do you want to know?" It didn't sound like an accusation or angry rebuke...only a sort of limp curiosity, as if wondering what on earth would change for either of them if Tweek knew.

The coffee-lover bit his lip a bit hesitantly, sipping ta his coffee and shrugging lightly. "_Hnn-mn._" AKA, 'I dunno'.

The raven looked up to the ceiling for a second. "I was stupid...

"And no one looks behind them anyway."

Tweek blinked once, utterly confused as to the meaning of this cryptic statement, but Craig snorted a tiny bit, turning back to look at the television again with an almost vicious determination. Tweek sensed that something important was squirming in the other's brain, and was debating whether or not to continue asking when Craig spoke up again, voice slightly muffled by the hand he was leaning his head on again.

...it looked like he was trying to hide his scar again.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, yeah? Promise."

The blond thought it over and nodded once, scratching lightly at his still-painted face. He could deal with that...after all, he doubted Craig would break a promise like that. And after today, he certainly wasn't going to push it. Definitely not. He turned back to the television, just in time to see a slobbering bulldog free the blue parrot from the chain around his little foot.

Craig glanced over to him, reaching over with his free hand to ruffle the spiky blond mane in front of him.

"...you still look like a tranny cat, you know."

"_Nghhh._"

* * *

**A/N:** I...have absolutely no excuse. I know that by now, some of you may have forgotten where this story was going, or what had happened before...or simply become disinterested, Maybe some of you will get that email notification and pass over it and you know what? That's okay. I understand. It's been a long long while, and readers wait for no one.

But for those of you still here, I'd like to thank you for bearing with me. For putting up with this silly writer and her laziness and writer's block and keeping with this story. Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed this. You guys are wonderful and I love you ;w;

Next chapter is already being worked on, and I hope to God I actually carry through this time. OTL *is a fail*

**On another note, I've said before that I have a tumblr, and from this point on Your Seared Lips Say will also be updated on there as well as here, in the case it is easier for some of you who might have a tumblr as well. The link is in my profile, and it'll all be under the tag #_your seared lips say_**

Thanks for reading! :D


	10. ﾉ OヮO ﾉ:・ﾟ :・ﾟ :・ﾟ :・ﾟ

**Sorry for the deliriously long pause between updates...but hopefully, this will make up for some of it ;)**

* * *

**Part Eight:****  
****ﾉ◕ヮ◕****)****ﾉ*****:****・ﾟ✧****.*:****・ﾟ✧****.*:****・ﾟ✧****.*:****・ﾟ✧****. **

Eventually the silence of the basement, broken only by the sounds of the television and their shuffling around to get comfortable and make more coffee, was joined by the sounds of movements upstairs, and the scrape and rumbles of voices above. Tweek peeked at Craig, who had slipped his phone out of his pocket to check the time; the raven groaned and slapped a hand over his face, running it upwards through his messy hair, his hat long forgotten on the ground somewhere.

"It's almost eight in the morning."

Tweek gave a short nod of acknowledgment before he paused, the words slowly making their way into the depths of his brain. Wait... he looked up at Craig, horrified.

"B-but school starts at seven!" He squeaked, his voice hitting previously unknown levels. He had _never_ missed school on purpose. Maybe if he was sick, but never for any other reason! What...what black magic was this?!

Craig got up and stretched, yawning so hugely that Tweek could hear his jaw give off a crack. Blinking blearily, he rolled his shoulders and slouched off toward the stairs, the blond quickly following afterward; did the other know of some secret time travel way of _ninjas_ to bring them back to a point in time in which they could make it school on time? They'd already been in trouble so much after yesterday, he didn't want to give them even more of a reason to put bad things on his records. Everybody could see those, the CIA, the FBI, everyone! Oh _God_!

The raven pushed open the basement door and wandered himself into the kitchen, where his sister was sitting by the table; her eyes flickered from the bowl of cereal in front of her, and she let loose a choked _'snrk' _as Tweek came into view. Apparently last night has been too dark to get a good look at the painted decorations. His mom was also there, leaning against the kitchen counter as she made spread butter over a half-burnt piece of toast. Craig gave off another yawn, scratching at his scar absently. "Hey, can I stay home today?"

She barely tossed a look in his direction. "Take out the trash for a week."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." And with that the scarred raven turned around, yawning again as he made the short journey to the basement door. Tweek was left stunned, mouth agape as he twisted his trembling hands in his shirt hem. But...but what about him?! He was gonna get in so much trouble with his parents! And the school! What if he missed a really important test and all of his grades dropped and he was kicked out for being such a failure at his education leaving him to beg on the streets for cash and bumming out a couch when he could at his PARENT'S HOUSE?! Halfway spazzing already so early in the morning, he rushed forward, almost pushing Craig down the stairs as he gripped at him.

"_Holy fu—_"

"Craig, Craig, wh-what about me oh Jesus -_ngh-_ I'll get i-in so much_ trouble _if I skip they'll lock m-me up for truancy an_—gah!"_ The blond blabbered, desperately shaking the other back and forth as he tried to get a handle on the stair's railing. Craig sputtered some curses, trying to shake Tweek off.

"Chill the fuck out you spaz just call your parents!" He made the strangest flapping motion with the arm Tweek was currently manhandling.

"_But I don't have a PHONE!_" Tweek shrieked, giving Craig one last hard shake.

"Mother_fuu—!_" A frantic grab at Tweek's shirt, failing to latch on properly and then there was a loud series of thuds as Craig Tucker fell down the stairs.

There was a moment of pause after that.

"What was _that_?"

"Craig?"

"_OH GOD CRAIG DON'T DIE I'M SO SORRY ARGHHHHH!_"

The first two questions had come from the depths of the kitchen, where the raven's mother and sister poked their heads through the open doorway, the third was Tweek loudly screaming down the basement stairs, clutching at himself and too afraid to even move for the fear that he would see Craig's broken, bleeding body sprawled out on the last stair. A half-muttered '_fuuuuuck_' came from below and he practically flew down, stomach and heart flopping as he caught sight of Craig throwing up an arm to rub weakly at his head.

"...I'm going to kill you, Tweek..."

The words terrifying as they were, (oh God don't think about him ripping you apart limb from limb, slicing thin strips of flesh from your bleeding chest to use as bacon, don't think about it, don't think, don't, _gah!_) only sent a jerky shudder through him, gripping his hands into the ragged hem of his shirt, too afraid to touch the raven for fear he had _grievous internal injuries_! "O-oh God, oh God, oh God," came the continuous babble. "A-are you o-o-_ngh!_ Okay?! Are you d-_dead?_"

Craig did not move, but his voice was amazingly deadpan. "Yes, Tweek. I am dead."

"_Oh God!_" The blond shrieked, convulsing a little more rapidly. Forget logic, who needed logic when you had a dead body on your hands? "_Fuck_, sweet tapdancing Jesus, what should I -_ngh-_ do I-I'm so sorry oh God, oh f-fuck what should I -_gah?_ Do?"

Craig was silent, and Tweek let out a thin shriek, certain that this was it, it was over he was going to be arrested, and thrown in jail and then raped by a big hairy pedophile named Bubba who had too many missing teeth and smelled bad and took the top bunk instead of the one on the bottom and _NOOOOO HE DIDN'T WANT THAT!_

"You should drag me over to the couch. Pretend I died in my sleep. No one will ever know."

The sudden words cut through the imagined scenario in his head and he jumped a bit, but quickly nodded, trying to stand and almost tripping over his own feet in his panicked haste. Yes, yes yes, okay he could do that, staging deaths was no big deal, people did it on television all the time, right? God! Never mind the fact that two people had already borne witness to the raven being actually ALIVE not more than two minutes ago, there was no time to think about that.

There was a tiny tiny corner of his mind with a hand permanently pasted to its forehead, bemoaninghis lack of logic.

It was sadly, overridden by the much larger part of Tweek's brain spazzing, screaming and throwing itself against the walls of his brain.

And thus it was that Tweek latched onto Craig's arms, his socked feet slipping around trying to find purchase on the ground beneath enough to drag his dead friend to the nearby couch and thus save his measly hide from a lifetime of servitude under imprisoned serial killers and possibly their misshapen Hugo cohorts.

He couldn't help the frustrated grunt that escaped his mouth as he struggled with the corpse, which was proving to be very difficult indeed to drag. Which, if he thought about it, their difference in height, weight, and the fact he hadn't eaten right in about a week was probably why. Of course Tweek wasn't really thinking right now.

"F-fuck, st-stop being -_ngh-_ heavy!" He shrieked.

"Sorry," The dead Craig responded, sounding not the least bit sorry.

Tweek bit back a few more choice curses involving the corpse's weight and gave another yank, succeeding in sliding Craig an inch or so, just enough to get the momentum going. It probably would have helped if he had been wearing shoes, and not slipping around on socks, but again, he wasn't really thinking and this was no time to go and find wherever his shoes were in the basement. Somehow, by some miracle, Tweek managed to push Craig Tucker's dead body onto the couch, gasping as he gave one last push to get his legs up. Slumping down by the couch's side, he took a breather, glancing up at the corpse lying sprawled on the plush cushions.

He had killed his best friend. His _only_ friend.

A big hiccuping gasp rattled around in his chest, then shuddered out of him, only to have another take its place. Tweek wiped at his eyes furiously, trying to stop what he knew was the inevitable. First one tear, then another, until suddenly he was sniveling and shaking, palms pressed over his eyes. Dammit, he wasn't even freaking out so much about murdering somebody as who it _was_. What had he done?! He had killed the only friend he had in the whole entire world, out of some stupid accident because he had been spazzing out like he normally had. And now Craig Tucker was dead and he wasn't ever coming back, and oh my God his mother would hate him! What would his parents say at his funeral? Would he even be allowed to go? NO, there was no way Craig's parents would allow the murderer of their only son to be present at his funeral, he was gonna be locked away and in_ jail _and he'd never even get to say a proper goodbye!

"I-I'm sorry, Craig," he whimpered, the tears choking up the words so much they were barely recognizable. "I d-d-didn't mean...-_hic_- to kill youuuu..." God how was he even going to pull this off?! How could he walk up there and pretend he hadn't just brutally and viciously murdered the only friend he would ever have, ever?!

If he had been listening, or just not caught up in sobbing so much, he would have seen Craig crack an eye open, biting his lips in what could have almost been guilt. He did, however, hear the corpse speak.

"You could always try and revive me."

"W-what, no I can't th-that stuff only -_nghhh_- happens to that one kid!"

"Kenny."

"Yeah him!"

"Dude isn't he in one of your classes, how do you not know his name?"

"I d-don't _knooow_..." The last bit trailed off in a whimper, and Tweek hugged his knees to himself, sniffling. He wondered if Craig's voice would remain in his head after his body had been covered in dirt. Because obviously the corpse wasn't _really _'speaking', he'd just gone mad after committing murder most foul. It was okay though, he clearly deserved it, and maybe in his more evil, madman moments he could convince himself that Craig still existed and wasn't some long-ago rotten corpse that worms and maggots had already feasted on with their dirty filthy mouths.

"You could make a deal with the devil?"

Tweek gave a choked half-squeak, shaking his head furiously against his knees. The devil! Make a deal with the devil! Yeah sure so what if the devil was a giant pussy most of the time who hung around gay clubs and chatted up his father and occasionally tipped him in twenties when he was in a seriously good mood in the coffee shop, it was SATAN. Master of darkness and evil pedophiles and terrible terrible axe murderers and probably the gnomes too! Argh, there was no way he was gonna make a deal with him (probably in exchange for his sweet coffee flavored _soul_) to bring Craig back.

"Indian burial ground."

"ZOMBIES!" Tweek shrieked, a massive jerk making his limbs jump wildly as he stared up in horror.

"Okay okay...you could always try Disney style." The corpse rearranged itself on its side, looking down at him. "That always works right?"

Wh-what...Disney style? What did that even...Tweek's eyes widened, sobs shuddering like a faulty motor in his chest as he struggled to breathe, the idea sparking a bit of hope in his chest. Yes! Yes that always worked yeah, Craig was a genius, even if he was just a voice in his head, he was still smart and all-knowing! Surely this would bring Craig back, he was gonna have his friend back yes oh sweet lord praise everything! Withholding more sobs, he clasped Craig's head tight and yanked him forward, mashing their lips together with more force than was strictly necessary. He moved his lips around a little, eyes tightly closed, lips still in their pucker shape, trying to bring Craig's face ever closer.

Tweek Tweak did not know how to kiss.

But the technicalities of magic did not matter, only that it brought back his friend from the dead safe and sound and not a flesh-eating moaning zombie. He wondered how long he had to do this. He could feel Craig's body twitching, muffled squeak noises coming from a different mouth than his own for once, and decided that a few more seconds should be enough; just to make sure, he tossed in a small lick—that was how the movies went, right?—feeling the tense skin of the scar on his tongue, then the hard surface of the raven's exposed tooth. Hands suddenly pushed at him but Tweek was determined to get the magic properly under way and resisted, he was not going to make a deal with any devil if this failed!

Suddenly a flash popped up through his eyelids and a great shove had him sprawling back onto the mat of covers still lying in front of the couch. He yelped, trying to get up, his eyes catching the sight of a mass of bright red hair vanishing up the stairs. Oh shit, had Ruby seen Craig's corpse?! What if she told on him and his mom came down here and saw the body and called the cops and tossed his ass in _jail_ and had him TORTURED for the rest of his young li—

A loud curse and a flurry of movement caught his attention; Craig was trying to move himself off of the couch, yelling for his sister to come back down here, red-faced, breathing, and very much alive. The raven, who by this point looked about as red as a ripe strawberry, gave an "_oof_" as he was subjected to a flying Tweek for the second time in less than a day, knocking him back onto the couch.

"_OhmyGodyesthankyouJesusyou'realiveyesIloveyouImsosorry...!_" Tweek sobbed, pawing at his resurrected friend, hugging him so tight he thought his arms would fall off. Craig was still yelling about something but he didn't give a flying fuck, he had worked magic! Real magic! He was alive, really really alive oh God he'd never go on stairs again, never ever ever again!

A tight grip on his shoulders forced his head back from where it had been latched onto Craig's sternum, and then the other was staring at him. "_What the fuck was that for?!_"

Tweek thought he should probably go see a doctor. That red shade couldn't be healthy, even for a resurrected corpse. "You said Disney style! And it -_ngh-_ w-worked! You're alive and breathing and I'm NOT going to jail!" he sobbed joyfully.

"I meant shed tears over my dead body and wrap your long golden hair around my wounds!" Craig's voice rose higher with every word; wow, Tweek hadn't even _known_ a ninja's voice could go that high. Hmmm, they were masters of mystery, it seemed...

He shook his friend a little, protesting. "_I don't have long golden hair_!" What was he, Goldilocks or something?

"Well you have like a blond mane or something, it's close enough!" The raven scooted farther back down the couch, his forearm pressed to his mouth like he was protecting it. "You couldn't have used your tiny lion magyks or something, oh my God..."

Tweek flushed. _"Ngh! _I-I'm not tiny!" The other's movements made him all the more aware of his own lips, the phantom feel of the scar and tooth pressed against the right side of his mouth. Sweet Jesus he had kissed Craig Tucker. Oh my God. He wiped at his eyes, trying to remove the last of his tears and surreptitiously wipe over his lips. He could still _feel_ it, oh jeez, on him like a brand. What if Craig thought he was a pervert or something after this, goddammit, not after he had revived him so soon!

There was a long period of silence, neither of them looking at each other, before the blond cracked. "_I'm not a pervert okay_?!"

"Holy fuck let's just play a game or something, _please_." Craig groaned, almost launching himself off of the couch to shove in the first game he could find. He tossed a controller at Tweek blind, returning to his spot; the coffee lover barely managed to catch the molded plastic, the thing bouncing around in his hands a few times before he managed to get a good grip on it. Wow, he really needed to learn how to catch stuff properly. Crawling up to the other end of the couch, away from Craig, he focused on the game, an old Sonic and Tails adventure game. As they popped open mystery boxes and defeated mini robots, Tweek saw Craig rub at his lips again from the corner of his eye. "Man I think my lips are bruised."

The blond's cheeks puffed out indignantly as a flush spread over his face. "It was j-just a little kiss!"

There was a scoff and a mutter. "More like facial assault."

Tweek aimed a kick across the couch, but Craig managed to catch him around his ankle and give him a yank; onscreen Tails vanished with a silly face and a droopy noise as one of Eggman's bombs caught him. Tweek gave a short shriek as Craig laughed, and he aimed another kick with his free leg, this time managing to catch him on the thigh. The raven's controller jolted in his hands and Sonic died as well. Their eyes met; both of them still had the remnants of red on their cheeks, but lines had been crossed. Shit had gone _personal._

Tweek struck out again with his free leg but Craig gave him a massive push to one side, effectively dropping the shrieking blond onto the blankets below. Tweek flailed around, finding himself accidentally tangled in the cord of his controller as the other leaned back with a look of smug triumph. He had just managed to untangle himself with a huff, when Craig tossed something small at him.

The blond squealed and dove out of the way. It was, however, just a cell phone. "You should probably call your parents. Y'know, like you wanted to?"

"_Nghhn!_" That particularly elegant noise emerged as their situation returned to him, and Tweek realized that all of this had been wasting valuable school time in which someone could call his parents and inform them that their son was a traitorous hooligan who skipped classes. Praising the resurrected Craig and his generosity, he flipped open the phone with shaky hands, then gave a little giggle.

The raven looked at him suspiciously. "What?"

"That's a -_erk-_ c-cute background..."

The other shoved his tongue at him, giving him a simultaneous double flip-off. "Shut up I like that picture."

Tweek gave another glance at the phone. A young, scarless Craig grinned up at him, Stripe next to him with a piece of apple sticking out of his furry mouth. It was a big contrast, seeing Craig whole and unmarked on one screen, then seeing him after whatever terrible catastrophe has happened to him, big red scar pulling at his lips. "So..._ngh_, what happened to Stripe?" He had wondered before where the guinea pig had gone to.

"He died a while ago."

"Oh."

"It's okay, he was really old." The words were bland but Tweek caught the downturn to his lips, the quick swallow visible as his throat twitched. He was pretty sure he would have missed it had the other been wearing his mask and hoodie. Wow, was Craig really so expressive? Even though they were just tiny tiny details no one else would probably even catch; Tweek was sure that if he hadn't spent years of his life examining people's faces to make sure they weren't just wearing flesh masks or cleverly disguised FBI agents who were waiting for just the right moment to bundle him up into one of their secret ice cream vans and drive off with him into the desert to do TERRIBLE EXPERIMENTS on him! then he probably would have missed it too.

"Surprised you actually remember his name."

Tweek jumped with a startled giggle-snort, shrugging. "Well...he -_ngh-_ has the s-stripe...like his name, look you can see it and everything."

"Oh, yeah." Craig grinned a bit, looking down for a second as if embarrassed. "I named him when I was like six so..."

The blond looked down, pushing his fingers down slow so he wouldn't mess up his house number. Holding the phone gingerly by his ear (radiation waves, JEEZ) he waited for someone to pick up. Hopefully his mom hadn't left yet...

"_Hello?_"

"H-hi mom, um, th-this is me...I'm still at Craig's house..._ngh_, I...o-overslept?" Tweek drew out the lie hesitantly. "So can I stay here?"

"_Sure, honeybun! Did you have a nice sleepover with your little friend? Did you have your bedtime coffee? I know you can't go through the night without it!_"

Tweek flushed, turning away from Craig and lowering his voice. "_Mom_! I'm f-fine, oh _Jesus,_I'm not a little -_ngh_- kid...and no one needs to know about my bedtime coffee! _Argh!_"

"What was that about bedtime coffee."

Tweek rounded on his friend, 'shh'-ing in mortification as his free hand flapped at the raven, before turning back to the phone where his mom was still speaking. "-_till my little baby! I'm gonna leave for the shop in a couple minutes, so make sure you get home safely, and have an adult hold your hand when you cross the street, okay?_"

Feeling pretty certain that Craig could hear exactly what his mom was saying and that he was never going to live this down in the eyes of a killer almost-zombie ninja, the blond just held the phone close to his ear, cheeks a burning red. "Y-yeah, okay, mom." He mumbled in defeat.

"_I'll see you soon, Tweekie. Love you!_"

"Love you too..." He hung up and passed it back to its owner, who looked like he was fighting the urge to laugh. Tweek gave him the best glare he could muster, returning to the couch and sitting down in a calm and dignified manner. At least until he twitched and elbowed Craig in the side. He ignored the snort from next to him and picked up his controller.

"Are we gonna play o-or not?"

"Heheh...yeah okay, _Tweekie_."

"_Fuck you._"

* * *

They played Sonic for a while before switching to Mario Kart, and then it devolved into how many times they could push the other off of Rainbow Road in VS mode. This particular game was ending up surprisingly in Tweek's favor; while the blond was crap at a race, he was murder on wheels armed with a green shell and a slew of opportunities on the tricky track from Hell. After a particularly terrible defeat (Craig: 7, Tweek: 26) Craig slouched back into the couch, teeth tugging at his bottom lip in clear sullenness. Tweek felt an exceedingly smug grin come onto his face.

"Wh-what's wrong, Craig? Not u-used to -_ngh_-_ losing?_"

The raven shot him a dirty look, exiting out to the main menu. "Wasn't even a real game or anything, it doesn't count."

"Yeah _huh_." An hour or so focusing on Craig instead of movies all night, and it felt like he had opened up a portal to some strange new world where things were 20% cooler and Craig Tucker was slowly becoming more than just a badass ninja with swords and a killer mask. This guy...this _guy_ was just a normal dude!

Well yeah he had noticed it before, obviously. It wasn't like he had _always_ considered the raven to be some sort of crazy, ninja alien from another planet—

_You thought it less than a week ago._

Shh! I wasn't talking to you, Tweek frowned internally.

_Whatever. Continue_, his mind waved impatiently.

Anyway. It was more like, this Craig could be just someone from his class, slouching in a seat and ignoring the teachers. He gnawed at his lip when he was concentrating, and when he was frustrated (the sixth time in a row Tweek had pushed him off before shooting in the giant glittery tube elevator) only one side of his mouth turned down; the other side just did this weird twitch thing. And it wasn't just seeing him without his mask, what he looked like either. Craig had...changed somehow. He looked a bit more at ease than before, and that surprised Tweek because he'd thought Craig had been pretty chill before even wearing the mask.

"You're staring again."

"_ARGH!_" Tweek flipped himself off of the couch before he was really aware of it, twitching a bit on the mat of covers before getting up. "S-sorry..." He paused for a bit before adding slyly, "Was just -_ngh-_ surprised at how j-jealous you were of my skill."

There was a moment in which Craig was stunned, a second in which he was angry, and a final moment in which he sunk lower onto the couch and ignored Tweek's gaze altogether, actually going so far as to cross his arms tightly. And Tweek could _see_ it, could see the emotions passing through his face and his mouth twisting up in that sullen pout again. Who knew a mouth could add so much to a face? And he was the only one outside of the other's family who knew about it. Or so he was told, anyway. He preened at the thought.

"I am _not_ jealous." Craig bit out, and there was a tinge of red to his cheeks as he said it. His lips thinned and the scar pulled, revealing a bit more of the incisor and Tweek just thought it looked so _funny _a choking snort came out of his mouth before he could stop it. The raven's chest puffed out in indignation as he turned away, fingers reaching to scrabble at his neck, pulling up the mask that had hung limp there since yesterday night when he had pulled it down. It hung off his cheeks in a wrong kind of way, pulled up too fast and too loose; it looked more a mask than it usually did.

Still Tweek swallowed back his next snort, twisting his fingers in the loops of his pants. Craig was _hiding_, he was and it was so plain it made him feel guilty. Even before he could tell the raven hadn't been some emotionless zombie, he could see the quirks and twitches of lips behind that piece of black cloth but he hadn't realized how much it hid. It snatched up all the details and emotions people were used to seeing.

The twitchy blond has the feeling that Craig had gotten accustomed to it hiding him, and was unused to the feeling of being exposed now that it wasn't. Tweek could kind of understand that; he'd felt exposed ever since Cartman had told monster aliens lived in space when they were in first grade.

An awkward silence descended on them both, and the blond shuffled his feet, unsure of what to say. He should probably apologize. Yeah probably. Craig might look more expressive now but that didn't change his deadliness, or the fact that he could snap at any second.

Before he could, however, the other stood, tossing his controller onto the cushion. The mask stretched as he yawned, so of course Tweek did too. "'M kinda tired, Tweek...stick around for a nap?"

He pursed his lips, eyes narrowing suspiciously. Besides the fact that this seemed like a dirty trick to change the subject, sleep left people vulnerable, and it was totally unsafe! What if the gnomes robbed you blind? How far did gnome territory even extend! Who knows, they could have their sneaky dirty little tunnels in every single house in South Park...he gave Craig a wary look. "_Ngh._..wh-what about gnomes?"

"...we don't get gnomes around here."

It was like the heavens opened up and SHINED THEIR LIGHT DOWN UPON THEM ALL. Tweek sucked in a huge breath, eyes widening until it almost hurt. "_Areyouserious._"

"Yeah?"

No gnomes? _No? Gnomes?_ It was almost too good to be true! How...but it all made sense in a flash. Of course no sneaky thief gnome would DARE step into the house of the Tucker family, it would be slaughtered on the spot! Ninjas let no enemy live...especially if they encroached on their territory. Of course, this would be the ONE PLACE that would be safe from those sadistic little assholes, the one place Tweek could hope to sleep and not have the underwear stolen right off of his body! And that went for so many things, didn't it...? What madman would dare trespass onto Tuckerland, what old man pervert would creep on their bushes, what serial killer would hide in their _closets_?

_This would be the best place for a nap._

Damn straight it would be, Tweek agreed. He nodded quickly at the raven in agreement to sleeptimes, but was a little confused when Craig bent down to roll up the mat of covers shoving them on the couch on top of the two controllers.

"...we're n-not gonna -_erk-_ sleep here?"

"Hell no, I need a bed." Craig looked at him like he was crazy for even suggesting it, and Tweek make a discontent noise in his throat as he was confronted by the fact that once again, the mask was over his friend's face. Even misaligned and stuff, it took away what he had gotten in the last couple of hours, and he didn't like it. What if he never took it off again, decided he'd made a mistake and never showed Tweek his scar again?

The raven checked the time on his phone again (8:36 am) before climbing up the basement stairs, the blond following closely behind after snatching up his thermos from the side of the couch. He still couldn't believe there was such thing as a gnome-free place. It was almost too good to be true! Craig called out to his mom, but she didn't answer; before Tweek could panic, his friend muttered that she had probably gone to town or something after dropping off Ruby at school. They trooped up to Craig's bedroom, and the raven quickly flopped onto his bed, snatching the bed cover and rolling until he was completely immersed in it like some kind of fluffy blue worm.

There was a silence for a second before Tweek decided to go and poke the worm. "...where am I g-gonna sleep?"

Craig turned around to face him, thinking. Untangling himself from the depths of his duvet, he spread it so it was halfway right again, then lifted it in invitation. Tweek looked at him mistrustfully. "It's just a cover, Tweek."

_Yeah, right. _But you didn't exactly just refuse a badass' most generous offer, so he put his thermos safely on the floor (not without taking one last sip of the lukewarm coffee inside) before crawling in to the surprisingly warm space. He turned around for a bit, trying to get comfortable before Craig grouched at him to just pick a spot and sleep for the love of God. He huffed and faced the other to snap something witty back but it was clear Craig was already halfway off to dreamland, eyes closed and his body loosening up slowly. Tweek stared at his masked face, tongue in cheek as he took a chance and reached forward, tugging at the end of the cloth. Craig's eyes snapped open with an accompanying sleepy breath and he slid it off himself, grunting. "Happy now?"

"Yeah."

The scar pulled and stretched. "Good, because I will kick you off this bed if I don't sleep."

"_Ngh._"

He turned onto his belly, hugging the pillow. It smelled like shampoo and pizza instead of coffee, but it was surprisingly easy to just close his eyes and ignore that. It took a few minutes of listening to the raven's breathing behind him, but soon he too fell asleep.

* * *

The entire world _flashed_, and Tweek woke up shrieking as the roof fell over their heads with an earsplitting roar.

"AGHHHMOTHER OF_ GOD HELP! HELP!_" Arms and legs flailed as he tried to get up and see but dust clouds were blocking his view and everything was upside down and someone was _screaming_ but who and what and _why for the love of God...!_

Another light flash came, but this time it was a 'BOOM' instead of a roar that accompanied it and Tweek choked on his yells, diving back down to the floor with a strangled scream and using his hands to cover his head from further disaster. His nose gave off a sharp twinge and he vaguely realized he had smacked it against the carpet in his rush.

"_...at the fucking hell fuck fuck...!_"

Who was that cursing, had someone survived the roof fall? Was he not alone in this hideous apocalypse?

Another smaller, but somehow sharper bang sounded and once again Tweek screamed, jerking forward to escape but smacking his head into something big and unmovable. "Will you two SHUT UP?!"

The blond let his shrieks taper off into whimpers, and the loud cursing of the trapped person to his right lowered into mutterings. He could hear a hissing and clattering noise in the background, and through the pain in his skull wondered if there were snakes about. He tried opening his eyes again, peering through the dust and debris, but instead of chalky white and gray clouds he saw muted tall shapes and the hissing sounds became a bit louder. Trying to focus he swiped at his eyes, feeling something sticky and wet on his cheek. Oh God was he bleeding?!

A quick inspection of the stuff on his fingers revealed it was clear and flaky on the dry bits: drool, not the red lifeblood from his veins. The hand still on the ground scrunched a bit as he tried to get up, and he paused for a second, feeling a bit confused. What...wait this was a floor wasn't it. Hadn't he...what had he done before this?

It occurred to him that the last thing he remembered was lying down on Craig's bed for a safe and secure gnome-free nap. Craig. So, he was at Craig's house right and on a bed...Tweek tried to focus on his surroundings, this time with more success, and he saw a tall bookshelf looming in front of him, a dark figure behind him by a towering doorway. Wait, why was everything so weird and tall? Had he shrunk? Oh God had the gnomes come after all and worked some sort of weird magical revenge magic on his ass for not being in the house he was supposed to be in in the first place to shrink him and bring him down to their level where they would kidnap him and take him down into their lair and do terrible horrible TORTUROUS THINGS TO HIM?! He sucked in a breath to shriek, as was his usual custom, when his body tensed as well and his hand once again closed on carpet.

Wait, _wait_, carpet okay why...why was he on the flo—

"Why is the kid on the floor." The commanding voice from thirty seconds ago melded into something a little bit more recognizable, and this time when Tweek looked behind himself he could recognize Craig's mom standing by the open doorway, hands on her hips and an exasperated expression on her face. To be honest though, that was a very good question. In a rush, Tweek sat up, holding a hand to his head as the newly bumped area gave an irritated throb. He looked up and caught Craig's eye; the other was looking back at him with a mildly surprised expression, as if he too was wondering the same thing.

Something clicked in Tweek's brain. "D-did you _kick me off_?"

Craig blinked, deadpan. "Why would I ever do that."

Tweek was affronted; how dare he shove over the great and mighty Tweek Tweak to the floor! He was sure to have words with the deadly ninja as soon as possible. As it was, he could only give off a 'huff', when suddenly the room _flashed_ once again and a another giant BOOM rattled the house. The sound covered a loud shriek, and the grunt Craig emitted as Tweek scrambled onto the bed, clambering over him in rush of legs and arms as he strove to reach the safe side of the bed next to the wall.

He crouched there wide-eyed, and Craig's mom rolled her eyes. "I made lunch, so if you're hungry, you better get it before it's gone." With that said, she turned around and left, closing the door behind her.,

Craig flopped onto his belly with another groan. "I think you stepped on my kidney." He stretched his arms out across the pillow, and Tweek winced as he heard a few pops come from the vicinity of the other's spine. "Fuck, never falling down stairs again; everything's sore."

"Sorry..." He felt a little stiff himself, having slept on the ground and all, but decided not to mention it.

There was a pause, and then the raven turned on his side to look at him, chewing lightly on his bottom lip. "...I forgot I made you fall down some too."

Tweek flushed a little pink as he unwillingly thought back to that shameful, shameful day. "_Erk._ Well, i-it didn't hurt that much; I b-bounce b-_ngh!_ Back quickly."

Craig seemed doubtful. Maybe he didn't believe that a mere coffee-addicted mortal could have a greater pain tolerance than his own self. Tweek didn't quite believe it either. Craig shrugged after a minute, turning back to his own pillow. "Sorry again for that."

The blond opened his mouth to tell him it was okay, and technically it was his own fault for being so scared of a game anyway when another loud clap of noise came from all around and he jumped.

"_What is that, gah!_"

"'s raining, Tweekie." Came the muffled answer.

Tweek _knew_ that Craig was never going to let that go, dammit. He should have gone off to the corner or something when he had made that call...but leaving a newly-resurrected human alone probably wasn't a good idea. Anyway... Tweek cocked his head to the side, listening. Raining?

But yes; as he listened, the _hissfwssfwssh_ he had noticed and subsequently pushed to the back of his mind formed itself into the sound of heavy rain, knocked about by strong winds. And that made the light and noise lightning and thunder. Not bombs falling all over town and slaughtering everyone in the vicinity, or worse, mutating them into carnivorous cannibalistic zombies that wandered the streets in packs, hungry for warm flesh and blood.

As if called, another bout of thunder came and rattled though his bones, and Tweek wished he had picked up his thermos before climbing onto the bed. Even though the coffee was most assuredly cold by now, it would still help. His lips came down in a pout, and he noticed his face felt kind of stiff. Oh yeah, he still had all that marker on his face. He should probably go wash it off now before it became permanently attached to his face or something. Argh, there was no _way_ he could go to school like that! Shuddering, he told Craig he was gonna go to the bathroom and quickly stepped out into the hall, entering and closing the door behind him.

Tweek took the chance to take a much-needed pee before he turned to the mirror, washing his hands as he stared at his reflection. The markers really were washable; they were already fading from his skin, more so from his left cheek where he had been resting on the floor. He turned on the water and lathered his hands in soap, taking several deep breaths and closing his eyes before scrubbing at his face vigorously. He was especially careful around his eyes, and tried to stop his hands from getting too shaky as he rubbed the near-permanent bag under his eyes. Just when he could take it no longer, he dipped his hands into the stream of water and splashed his face a couple times, gasping in air. Tweek frowned as he checked the mirror again, wiping his face with some toilet paper. Okay, well, that wasn't too bad, maybe a few more washes would take care of it all...

By the time he made his way into Craig's room again, his face was pink from so much rubbing and his eyes weren't too far off in color; he'd accidentally gotten some soap in them during that last scrub. Tweek twitched, resisting the urge to swipe at his eyes again. He'd probably left it too late; the pink had disappeared completely, most likely hiding in his skin color, but it was the _black _that had stained into his face. He looked like he was sporting two fierce black eyes, a dirt-smudged nose, and the ink left in the crevices of his lips made it seem like he'd had his mouth split in four different places. He wondered about the consequences of asking Craig to borrow a mask of his. Surely he had some spares lying around.

Craig was still lying sprawled over his bed, but he'd turned his head halfway to the side, staring sleepily at the muted television while his left hand clutched at the remote. His eyes flickered over to Tweek as he came in; the blond met his gaze resolutely, daring him to say something.

"Did you get into a fight with the sink?" The little prick was even _smirking_ at him, the nerve!

Tweek would have growled at him, if he'd thought he could pull it off without his twitches turning into some kind of demented whine. He settled for the nastiest glare he could manage (not very nasty at all), and climbed back up on the bed, but not before snatching up the six-tiered rectangle puzzle from the bookshelf. ...it was his favorite of the puzzles Craig had. The rain kept up its chorus of hisses in the background as the two faded into silence, and Tweek could have almost thought the other had fallen asleep if it weren't for him changing the channels every so often.

…..

_This is really quiet._

Yeah, its called silence, he thought snidely.

_Rude. _Tweek imagined his mind to pin him with an offended gaze. _Just thought we'd all be discussing something._

Like what?

_Like the mask, you fool._

Oh. ..._oh._ Tweek fiddled a bit with the puzzle in his hands glancing up at the back of Craig's head. He couldn't see the scar from this angle, but he could see the knot of cloth, still looped around his neck. He had promised to tell him the secret, right? The real secret. Tomorrow...which was today! He pushed a puzzle piece around slowly; should he bring it up?

Nah...Craig would bring it up himself eventually, right? He promised...

Tweek nipped at his bottom lip, tasting the faint vestiges of bitter ink on his tongue as he kept silent. A few more minutes passed, and Craig settled on a horror movie from Syfy. He carefully averted his eyes; the CGI was terribly done, but he had watched enough of these things to know he didn't need to add an octopus-shark hybrid to an ever-growing list of fears from shitty indie horror films. He should just ask; it wasn't like there was anything else capturing his attention right now. He had a feeling Craig was gonna fall asleep during the movie anyway.

He pushed the puzzle apart. "Hey...Craig?"

"Mm?"

"Uhhh..." He wavered a little, hands twitching before he gave up. "I-I'm gonna go get -_ngh-_ coffee o-okay?"

Craig made a little grunt noise that Tweek took to mean 'okay', and he got up to go down the hall again, cursing his weak will. Dangit, why couldn't he just spit it out! He had asked yesterday night right? Sure Craig hadn't actually told him anything...but he had done it! Fuck...

Sighing, he went down the treacherous staircase and turned into the kitchen, bumping into a wall. Or...he _thought_ it was a wall. He stumbled back, and the first thought in his head was amazement that Craig had somehow gotten to the kitchen before him, because the only person he ever ran into like this was Craig. Then his mind caught up with him and he paled; this was much too _wide_ to be Craig Tucker. He looked up to see a tall, _tall_, balding man glance down at him with furrowed brows, as if wondering who would dare to get in his way. He glimpsed eyes the same icy blue, a nose in the exact same shape and a lifting brow oh so familiar, before a big middle finger was shoved in his face and the man left in the direction of the living room.

Tweek darted into the kitchen, breathing quickly. Wow. _Wow. _He hadn't seen Craig's dad since middle school ceremony, but the man was as big and intimidating as ever. He wondered if Craig would grow up to be that tall as an adult. Well, he was pretty tall already, but his dad was huge!

Breathing a sigh of relief, he moved to the coffeemaker, putting his thermos to the side to fiddle with the settings before pulling out filters and coffee grounds. At least he hadn't been eaten. The guy had looked like he could have eaten someone of Tweek's size three times over. And still have room in his belly for dessert. Tweek wondered vaguely what tall people ate to get so big, and contemplated the risks of asking Craig's dad to let him in on the secret. Surely a few extra inches could help him in his endeavors. Like getting the good coffee grounds from the top shelf of the pantry, or as a deterrent to the old man perverts lurking around the house. They liked their prey small enough to carry, and if he were a little taller, maybe they would leave him alone.

He had just settled back to wait for the coffee to be ready when a hand landed on his shoulder; after a moment of once again displaying his prodigious playing dead skills, he cracked open an eye to see Craig gazing down at him. His eyes didn't give much away, but the corner of his mouth was upturned in a way that let Tweek know he was close to laughing.

Oh the wonders of a maskless face, he thought once more.

He picked himself off of the floor, tugging his shirt into place. Craig brushed some invisible dust off of his arm; Tweek appreciated the gesture in the way anyone scared of the germs in dust was.

"Decided I wanted some coffee too." The other said as a way of explanation. Tweek nodded and they once more lapsed back into silence...or would have really but Tweek still had a few questions.

"S-so your dad..." he tried being smooth. It didn't go so well. "He's pretty -_ngh-_ tall."

"Mhm."

"...so where is your f-family from a-again?"

"What?"

"Your -_erk-_ family. Wouldn't have...im-immigrated from, say, Eastern E-Europe?"

Craig looked over at Tweek, raising an eyebrow in a silent question. Tweek narrowed his eyes at him, studying his face carefully for any distinguishing marks. "_What, _Tweek."

"Are you a _half-giant_?"

The deadpan look Craig responded with could have come straight out of a manga; the blond flushed. "W-well your dad is super tall..."

"Giants are like fifty feet tall. Does he look fifty feet tall to you?"

"Giants are part fairy! _Ngh_, they could cast a g-glamour or something..."

The coffeemaker dinged and Craig actually managed to beat Tweek to grab the coffeepot, giving his hand a sharp smack; Tweek recoiled with a defeated whine. "How do you even know this stuff?"

Tweek pouted. "I-I read..."

The raven rolled his eyes, grabbing Tweek's thermos from the counter along with his own cup. "Reading some weird stuff, Tweekie."

"_Oh my God stop it with that my mom likes nicknames okay, argh!_"

"Sure, Tweekie."

The blond made a strange hissing noise in the back of his throat, snatching his thermos back sullenly as the other finished with it. He took a sip. "You put in too much sugar. Also it's missing some -_ngh-_ milk." He informed Craig snippily.

Craig took a sip from his own cup, lips scrunching up at the corners. "Huh. Well maybe if you taught me how to make coffee right or something it'd be better."

Tweek gasped indignantly. "You don't t-_teach_ coffee, it's an art. You h-have to f-_f-feel_ it."

"Bullshit."

In his mind, Tweek rose up to his full height (not very much but hey he could dream) and berated Craig so thoroughly the other had no choice but to bow down and concede to his coffee wisdom and work in the coffee shop for a month as punishment; in reality, he just grumbled a bit and took back Craig's cup to fix the drink right himself. He decided to stop beating around the bush and actually ask the question that had been on the tip of his tongue for the last five minutes. "A-are you gonna tell me now? How you g-got that scar?"

Craig froze in the middle of drinking some coffee; Tweek saw his throat give off a small spasm as he swallowed. He remained quiet for a moment; his thumb swept slowly around the rim of his cup, around and around and Tweek decided to watch that instead of the glower that was settling on Craig's face. It was possible this might not have been the best idea. However, nothing happened. Craig didn't fling hot coffee at his face or whip out a ninja sword or even toss him out into the rain outside; he nodded, and gestured for them to go back upstairs.

Tweek followed with a sort of mounting excitement. This was it. He was finally gonna get some answers. He was finally gonna _know._

Sitting down on the bed again, Tweek waited while Craig closed the door and put his cup on the bookshelf, scooting back on the bed until his back hit the wall, his fingers going up briefly to touch the mask around his neck. Another short silence.

"It's really stupid." He muttered. The blond wisely kept his mouth shut, clenching his hands on his thermos to keep them still. Craig surprised him by laughing a bit, but it sounded off. Forced. "Really really fucking stupid."

Tweek was gonna say something, but Craig shot him a look, fierce and hot, and he decided it would okay for him not to speak for a while. The raven breathed out silently. "Sorry, just...c'mere." He patted the space next to him and Tweek slid over, bumping his shoulder on his friend's.

Another exhale. "Happened right after school ended freshman year...maybe a week or two after we got out or something I think, it was close, right? Can't remember how many it really was or anything who even—" Craig broke off suddenly, one hand entangling in the hem of his shirt. It reminded Tweek of what he did when he was nervous. He blinked. Was Craig...scared?

The raven's eyes were fixed on his covers. He didn't look up. "Sorry."

The silence this time was tense, and the blond's skin prickled underneath it. He watched the other's free hand join the first, clenching so tightly around the shirt his knuckles turned white.

"I was walking. Don't remember where. It was the afternoon, and I had plenty of time to do what I wanted...you know? Didn't have anything important to do..." Blue eyes flickered over to him, and he nodded quickly, urging him to continue.

"I was walking, and then this guy grabs me, out of the fucking blue. Middle of the street, plain daylight, and I get jumped by some guy." Craig laughed again, but it was still wrong, and it ended too quick. Hands twisted around and around in the fabric. "This asshole's caught me by surprise, and he's dragging me around a building telling me to be quiet or some shit, if I know what's good for me.

You know they tell you to never go quietly if something happens. You gotta scream or make a commotion or something. Bring attention to yourself. But it all happened so fast, you don't exactly get the time to figure out what you're gonna do. I was walking, and now I'm behind in an alley and some random fucker's got a knife in my face. One of those big...those big butcher ones people chop up chicken with." Tweek twitched at the thought and the raven grimaced. "Not exactly the choice weapon you hear about when you get mugged...he tells me to give him all the money I got. Everything, and anything expensive I might have on me. Sixteen years old and this dumb dick thinks I'm...I dunno, running a bank in my pockets. I don't..I don't even remember what I have on me anymore. Not any money, I don't think."

Tweek wanted to ask if the guy had gotten mad, if he didn't believe him, if maybe that was were the scar had come from, but he didn't. Something about Craig's face told him there was a bit more of the tale to tell.

"You'd be scared right?" The raven laughed and this time it was a little better, a little softer. "You'd be shitting your pants, Tweek."

The blond smiled a little sheepishly, deciding to play along. "P-probably."

"I was supposed to be scared. Scared and begging for my life or something. But no...I wasn't scared. I was _mad._" Craig scowled, and his words were a hiss now. "I was so fucking pissed. This...this guy just...up and threatens me, with a stupid butcher knife, trying to rob me in plain daylight, what...this was the stupidest bullshit I'd ever seen. I thought I'd hung out with those four assholes so long enough, their dipshit _adventures_ were rubbing off on me. Man, _fuck_ that.

I punched him in the face."

Tweek's eyes widened. "R-really?"

"Hell yeah I punched him straight in the eye. I was mad and this guy was ruining my day. He _dared_ to get in my way when I'm minding my own business! I wasn't gonna roll over like some dog, I was gonna make sure this asshole never got in my way again." He stopped, his voice low. "I thought I was some big hero. I'm...we're just kids, Tweek. Doesn't matter what we think. We're just kids."

Tweek didn't know what to say to that. Craig went on after a second.

"He hadn't expected me to fight back. After I punched him he tripped and went down, so I start kicking. I was whaling on the guy; pretty sure I told him to pick his victims better next time or some dramatic bullshit like that. God I was stupid. I didn't even see the other guy come up behind me. The first asshole hadn't come alone, he had backup. He...he hit—"

Craig swallowed, and Tweek could see it, hard and painful like when you're sick and your throat hurts no matter what you do. The raven's head twitched like he was trying to shake off a fly, and he swallowed once more, back tense and stiff.

"He hit me from behind with something. A pole or something. It sounded like metal when it hit me. It hurt. It was right in the back of my head and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. I could hear them talking to each other and I think they started hitting me again. M'head hurt too much to tell. Probably though, 'cuz I had some cracked ribs later. Then the first guy starts talking to me." His eyes were burning holes in the covers, hunched in on himself like he expected something dangerous to come bursting in the room. His hands trembled slightly. Tweek wasn't feeling too good anymore; his excitement had faded into a throbbing horror in the middle of his chest as the story went on. He didn't want to hear any more about what had happened, but it was too late to go back and it was his fault Craig was all tensed up like he was now.

He reached forward slowly, tentative fingers wrapping around the other's wrist. He almost expected Craig to push him away but instead the raven latched onto his hand tightly, squeezing it hard.

"I think he lifted me up, and he says something to me, most likely some stupid dramatic shit like I pulled on him. Then I cough on him. I remember that, because it _hurt._ I didn't feel them hitting me but it hurt when I coughed, like all of my bones were breaking inside of me. Then _he _gets mad. I'm on the ground again and he starts smacking at me with the knife. You can't really stab with something like that, you have to sort of...hack at things. He hits me a few times on the chest, then he sort of...stops. And he gets real close, real real close, like my vision's kind of blurry but I can see the shape of him, right. And he puts the knife on my face and just...brings it down. Slowly. You see those commercials where they show you how sharp these thins are, like cutting through bone and stuff, and this is...well my skin was like paper. Kind of just," He made a _swip_ noise. "Fell apart."

If there had been food in Tweek's stomach, he was pretty certain it would have been all over Craig's sheets right now.

"And then they left me. They _left_ me, didn't even bother taking what I had, lying on the fucking ground, in the middle of some dirty, _shithole_ alley, bloodied up, practically _dying_, and they _LEFT ME_!" Craig's voice rose to an almost shriek, and his nails dug into Tweek's palm so hard he whimpered a little. Craig paused, shh-ing him softly, his other hand going up to pat Tweek's in an absent sort of way.

"...don't know if someone heard or saw what was happening, but I end up at the hospital. Had a concussion, a couple cracked ribs, stitches on my chest, and the motherload of them on my face. Only good thing about it was I was so doped up I couldn't feel any of it. I was there for a couple days. It was kinda short, but I didn't really wanna stay there anyway, good drugs or not. I told my mom and dad to not tell anyone. I didn't...didn't want anyone to find out. I was ashamed, and embarrassed. And...mad. I was still mad. All the time, just pissed off that I had let them whoop me so easily, and I kept thinking that maybe I didn't try hard enough, I wasn't quick or strong enough and it was my fault that had happened to me. ...the doctor had told me that if I left everything alone, everything would heal up right. The bruises would fade and my ribs weren't that bad off. Even the cuts from the knife had been clean and neat enough that they would just end up thin little white scars. Would barely even be able to see them, she said." He scoffed, disgusted. "She wanted me to feed from a fucking tube. Shouldn't actually chew anything, she said, 'cuz it would mess with the stitches. Nothing but food smoothies for who knew how long. I didn't listen to her, didn't want to listen to her. Felt like I was a fucking coward for even thinking about it. It hurt to eat normally but I did it anyway. Nobody said anything 'cuz they knew how angry I was, I almost hit Ruby when she said I should just listen to the doctor. I _did_ hit my dad when he said the same thing. He just bought me a punching bag instead and told me to leave the family alone. I hung it up in the basement and punched that around a few times, even though my ribs hurt too."

He was still patting Tweek's hand, holding it close and firm. It lay on Craig's knee now, but Tweek didn't move it.

"I was back in the hospital in less than two weeks with blood poisoning. I didn't leave my room, didn't talk or call anyone, avoided my mom and dad...I started eating at night in my room so no one saw when my face got infected by all the food and shit. It started getting puffy, and brown, and it bled around the stitches, and popped a couple. The cut turned kind of black around the edges, filled with pus, and it hurt. All the time, every minute, every day, like I was getting cut all over again. Not even painkillers made it go away. It got so bad I came down with a fever, and I couldn't see anything out of my eye, it was so puffed up. My mom caught me one day when I was passed out in my room from the fever, and I woke up in the hospital. Again. I almost died." A squeeze, and Tweek squeezed back, biting on his lip. The thought of Craig being...gone, dead, and having never known it made his lungs seize up in an uncomfortable way. Craig was his _friend_, he didn't want him to die.

The raven coughed. "Sorry, this...this is a lot of words." He hadn't spoken so much in a long while, was the translation. Tweek could understand. In the time he'd known him, he'd always been a man of short sentences, not speeches.

"Anyway...the same doctor told me I had pretty much fucked myself over. The infection was gonna slow down my healing time, and my face was gonna have the worst scar any idiot ever had." He shrugged in a hopeless sort of way. "Serves me right I guess." The blond wanted to protest but Craig was still speaking. "So my ribs and chest get better by the time school starts, but my face doesn't. Still kind of swollen and red and ugly as shit. Didn't want to go to school. Didn't want anyone to _pity_ me." The word was a sneer. "Still angry at everything, and everyone. So I ordered a couple of these online." His hand briefly left Tweek's to touch the mask around his neck, but returned quickly to his petting motion. "I thought they looked kind of cool. And then no one would see the gash on my face and all of the new stitches."

Tweek suddenly understood something. "S-so when you fought th-that guy...that's why you -_ngh-_ bled?"

"Yeah, I pulled my stitches again. I was looking for a fight anyway. Just looking for a reason to get back at _somebody_ for all the fucked up shit, I didn't care who it was."

"But...then Clyde d-didn't do anything, he—"

"No, that fucker _left_ me." Craig's voice turned cold and dark. "He ran away just like everybody else, didn't even bother to ask what had happened or anything. He. _Left._ Me." A shuddering breath ran through him and then he was back to normal. "I could get you running away, even if it made me mad. You were always scared of everything. But he...he was my best friend. I trusted him. I...trusted him to understand, and he didn't even give me a fucking chance."

Tweek squeezed his hand again. Craig smiled faintly.

"I just sort of...entertained myself after that. Gamed a lot, watched a lot of TV, went online...told myself I didn't need anybody else. Used the punching bag on bad days, but people started picking fights with me a lot after that so I guess I used them for practice. Got better at defending myself against a lot of people so it wasn't all a waste." He gnawed at his lip for a sec. "The mask had to do with it. Freaked people out, like you. But I didn't change it...it was easier that way, you know? People asked less questions, and it kind of gave people a reason to start shit with me and I was okay with that in the beginning, when I was angry so much...

"And I was alone for a year and a half until you decided to punch me in the face trying to give back my folder and make up for it by making me coffee."

Tweek choked out a giggle, flushing. "Sorry..."

Craig laughed quietly with him, falling silent after a while. "And that's it I guess."

"Are you...a-are you still angry?"

He shrugged.

They sat together for a while, listening to the rain outside, before Craig gently let go of Tweek's hand, looping an arm around his shoulders instead. "...thanks."

Tweek didn't see the need to answer, instead just settling for hugging his friend back.

He didn't like the story behind Craig's scar, but he was glad, somehow, that he had heard it.

They took another nap before Tweek had to leave, and Craig had a grin on his face when he'd asked Tweek if he'd "needed a hand to hold when crossing the street".

The coffee lover had aimed, and missed, a kick at his knee.

"Don't worry mommy now, Tweekie, you remember what she told you."

"I w-will cut you in your sleep."

"The stutter ruined it."

"Cra_aaig._" Tweek whined.

The other grinned his lopsided grin. "Okay, okay." He handed him an umbrella. "Don't forget the increase in acid rain over the last five years in Colorado."

Tweek's nails made an uncomfortable scratching noise on the outside of the thermos. "Fucking _hell._" He tossed his friend the best glare he could, glancing out nervously into the gray drizzle before stepping outside.

Craig scratched lightly at his tip of his scar. "Bye Tweekie."

"_ARGH!_"

* * *

Craig's mom lounged back on the couch, supposedly watching the basketball game playing on the television; instead her ears were perked toward the exasperated shrieks of the Tweak boy outside of the door. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her son leaning against the doorway. It was so close to the living room she could see his grin, and hear his small laugh. She kept her sigh of relief internal, unwilling for Craig to realize she was watching them.

It had been a long while since she had seen him so relaxed instead of tight and tense, waiting in the corner like a powder keg near a lit match. It was a good change, and one a long time in coming, in her oh-so-humble opinion. He was...better now, than he had been before. More sure of himself. More in control.

When Craig closed the door a few seconds later to wander into the kitchen, he touched at his face again, but didn't put on the mask.

She allowed herself a little smile, though it came out as a smirk seemingly directed at the TV screen. Good changes.

_Very _good changes.

* * *

As he tripped over the third black cat on his way home, Tweek restrained his excited noises. He knew! After so much time, so many thoughts and fears and nights and _dreams_ he finally knew just what lay under that mask, and how it had gotten there! Even if it was a terrible scar, and an even more terrible story. His mind reminded him it probably wasn't right to be so happy about this, but he was all a jumble instead and couldn't answer it properly. He couldn't tell what he was feeling, back and forth between excitement and horror, pity and triumph, but he _knew_ and Craig _trusted_ him enough to tell him and show him and ARGH OLD MAN PERVERTS!

He ducked under the reach of one, almost dropping Craig's umbrella and his own thermos on the wet ground below as he ran for home even faster. God dammit, why were they always after him, all of them smiling so often and widely and just being so danged creepy! Why did they even bother wearing such nice suits anyway, did they think he was going to fall for their dapper clothing and follow them into their white vans of death and disembowelment like some drugged up puppy? Never! He hoped the books in their hands got soaked in the rain and they couldn't dry them out properly so they got all moldy and nasty.

Tweek tripped over another cat and flailed, narrowly dodging the last pervert and sprinting up his street. He was free! He was free, and mostly dry and totally unharmed and he KNEW, FINALLY GOD YES HE KNEW; Craig was his friend, everything was good, God, he was most likely gonna explode from all the conflicting emotions cooped up inside of him!

Fuck, he _hated_ explosions.


End file.
